Shrouded Innocence
by suspensegirl
Summary: How Clara comes to learn of Daniel's shocking discovery & the aftermath that follows...Daniel/Clara/Neri
1. Everyone But Me

A/N: Okay, so I bought this book around Thanksgiving, and I have totally gotten sucked in. I just had to make a category for it. Heheh. (If it's not currently in that category, it will be soon) ;) If you haven't read the book, you should. I'm only about ¼ of the way through, so maybe my pained feelings over the issue I'm trying to resolve in this fic will be solved by then. Who knows? Regardless, the story is awesome and I am beyond inspired to write fics for it! *cheers*

This fanfiction – which will definitely at least be a 2-parter – takes place after Neri goes back to Clara after beating up poor Daniel who walked in on them. *tear* (mostly, if not all, in Clara's POV)

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**Ch.1- Everyone But Me**

When Neri came back maybe ten minutes later, I had been shaking with anticipation again and pulling him nearer to me and harder into my core than he had ever gone before, even previously to the interruption – whatever it had been – when I had been clutching to his skin and digging my fingernails into every sweaty inch I could get my hands on.

"Adrian," I purred into his ear. He pounded faster. It seemed he was more desperate than I was, more than the two of us had been earlier. I didn't question it at the time. I had been left empty and open to the cold for ten long minutes and in the warmth of his body, I felt I could lose myself. And I did, for an hour following, until we had finished and been asleep with our limbs entangled for at least twenty minutes.

My music teacher – my Maestro – was alluring in every sense of the word. I did not like the way he pushed around little Daniel, who had been nothing but my friend for the last six years. The boy was no threat at all, even if he liked to pretend that was so. Still Adrian Neri had persisted. It didn't occur to me until later that Daniel could have been the reason for Adrian's sudden departure. I was so wrapped up in my music teacher, what I felt for him and how I needed him in that moment. My body couldn't say _no_ to him, and my mind insisted this transformation from Daniel's friend to Neri's lover couldn't be anything but good.

Adrian Neri was cocky, and a spoiled rich kid in every sense of the word. But during our lessons, he would smile at me, and I at him, and I just _felt_ a connection. I couldn't see him, but somehow I knew he was smiling. His presence would seem to brighten, and I would feel warm. It seemed as if sometimes I was the only one he looked at and cared about, though I always heard how he would charm the rest of the household.

_All except Daniel._

Neri was everything and nothing to me. As much as I tried to convince my heart of it, I certainly did not love him. He satiated my passion, encouraged my musical talent, and made me feel I was the only one in the room always. But he insulted poor Daniel, and it was the key reason I had avoided his fifteen-year-old presence for so long recently. I believed myself to be falling for Neri, and I knew that would kill him. I knew from the moment I met Daniel Sempere that he was going to fall in love with me. I tried to deny it countless times over the years, but the older he got, the stronger I could feel his warmth emanating toward me. All I could do was fall into despair. And Neri pulled me out, even if he did so by pushing Daniel in.

"Neri," I murmured, turning my body towards him. I could feel him sensing my movements and bringing me closer to him. He also drew up the blankets farther up around up. It warmed me how much he sought to satisfy my level of comfort.

"Mmm," he moaned softly, clearly still set in his sleep.

I brushed by hand up against his soft skin and felt the twitching of his lips when my fingers passed across them. His eyelashes were feathery and he blinked, confused, when I touched them. There was still sweat at the brim of his forehead, though for the most part it had cooled. I loved pushing my fingers through his hair. If there was grease, it didn't bother me. How we were placed now, seemed like a fairytale.

Then, I remembered.

"Neri," I nudged at his shoulder, and could hear him sigh. If he had not opened his eyes yet, he was going to. He had resigned to paying just a little more attention to him than to his tired body.

"What, Clara?" he asked. There was annoyance in his voice, but I chose to dismiss it once more. It was not as if he could just run off now that we had slept together. He was my music teacher, and my family was paying him well. I would not believe that he was a womanizer, not after the time we had spent together. Even at 26, I believed firmly in the possibilities that lie in true love, and that it should be the easiest to see. I decided not to think long on the fact that I wavered in my feelings of truly loving Adrian Neri.

"Wh-What was the disturbance last night?" I asked innocently. My eyebrows were fused and I truly wanted to know. I just had to block out the slight possibility that had been gnawing at me in the back of my horny mind from the moment he had left the room.

"You mean, an hour ago?" he asked, amused. He began running his hand down my arm and it both soothed my chills and created them. I said nothing, but leaned my head gently on his shoulder. He sighed and I knew he had taken the action as a desire to want more.

"It was nothing you need concern yourself with," he promised, pressing his lips to my forehead, which was as dry as desert sand.

"Tell me," I pleaded. When he didn't speak, I placed my hands over his face again and felt him succumb to my touch.

"It was that little brat," he stated, clearly trying to be casual, but I could feel the venom in his voice. I wanted him to be referring to something, someone else, but I knew there was no chance of it. Daniel was the only aspect of my own life which Adrian seemed to be frustrated and angered by.

"Daniel?" I breathed, hoping for the life of me _still_ that I was wrong.

"Well, whatever his name is," Adrian muttered, clearly desperately trying to reign in his anger – for my sake.

"What happened?" I begged, curling my fingers into the skin covering his collarbone. Neri sighed, clearly not wanting to get into it. But he wrapped a lock of my own hair loosely around his finger and I knew he was going to tell me.

"I saw him watching up," he began.

I swallowed hard. _How awful._

"That's why you left?" I choked, trying myself to contain the sobs I knew would come with whatever Neri said next. I could feel him nod and could almost hear the click that went with his jaw locking in place. His teeth were grinding.

"Yes," he whispered, "I taught him a lesson too."

I felt his other hand curl up into a fist from where it lie along my back.

"I punched him senseless. I stole the keys he had to this house. I don't know where he got them from, but I stole them back. I kicked him out, bloody-lipped and black-eyed and I told him to never come back."

He was in the zone and couldn't hear the quiet sobs that had erupted from me. But soon he felt the dribbling moisture on his neck and stopped in his rant. I could feel how his demeanor changed. He instantly felt bad – not for his actions, but how I was affected by them. I could imagine how he was cursing himself for actually telling me what had been done. But I was glad he had. So many thoughts went spinning through my head right then, but I couldn't stop crying. I couldn't hear when Neri tried to console me, and apologized profusely – in so many words.

I unwrapped myself from his hold, which was not very easy at first. I felt around the room for my soft, fluffy robe, and I put it around myself, tying the belt securely around my waist. I turned back to where Neri was. I couldn't entirely sense him as well as I could moments earlier, but I knew he would take pity on me for my blindness and not say anything in the regards of where I looked.

"Daniel's sixteen," I spat at him. "He's been infatuated with me for six years, and you have the nerve to beat him up for accidentally stumbling in on the shocking revelation that his feelings aren't mutual?!"

He didn't move across the room, and I made for the door.

"Clara!" he scoffed, in disbelief. "He's a _boy_," he emphasized.

I shook my head. "And you're an asshole." I shut the door behind me, not allowing him to follow me into the hall. It almost didn't surprise me when I didn't even hear or feel an attempt. I made my way to where I knew the closest phone was, and dialed the Sempere's number. How awful I had been to the boy who had done nothing but adore me from Day one.

It was then that I remembered, and dropped the phone quickly to its base before picking it up again once I had almost recovered from my shock. _It was Daniel's 16__th__ birthday today, and I had been invited to the party._

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A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review! Tell me your thoughts! =D I want to hear! Hehe. If you're just one of my usual GG reader/reviewers, I really appreciate you taking the time to dip yourself into a different genre entirely. Thanks! ;)


	2. Regret

A/N: Okay, hardly a reader or reviewer, and can I just say I knew this would happen? *sigh* Whatever. I am still feeling inspired and so today I will write another chapter. *nods* I don't know how long this will be, and therefore have not even written an outline yet, heh, but it will probably go past this second chapter. Heh. Please, please review if you read this. It would make my life, since I love this book so much so far. Heheh. I should be getting back to my GG fics soon. Read on. =)

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**Ch.2—Regret**

When I returned to the room, Neri was asleep. I could hear his heavy breathing as I closed the door behind me, and when I reached the edge of my bed, I could feel his feet. He didn't so much as twitch when my hand crept further up to his ankle. I was angry. He hadn't gone after me, and he despised the boy who had only ever been innocent in my eyes and the eyes of everyone else in the household. Now Neri was despicable to me, if only until morning. I bit my nails into the skin of his toes and felt the quiet breeze as he reared up and flailed about in my bed.

"Bloody Hell!" He registered my presence after a moment, probably noted how I didn't move an inch and my sightless eyes glazed over in his direction. "What was that for, Clara?" He was almost hyperventilating.

"Leave," I demanded. All I could hear was his breathing. "Did you hear me?"

He scoffed. "Yeah, I heard you," he spat, ripping the covers off of his naked body. I could feel his presence moving about the room, and hoped that meant he was just gathering up his clothes. It was clear how he felt for Daniel. His anger for the boy had completely blocked out what I might have been feeling. Even his original apologies due to my tears were overrun by his rage. I knew he wasn't pacing now in an attempt to think of some way to win me back over.

The door slammed no more than five minutes later, and I sunk onto my bed, its rumpled covers still intact with the fury that was Adrian Neri. I reached out for the soft comfort in the gentle blankets and wrapped them up and around my shoulders. It felt safer than the way Neri had brought them up before, how he had tried to keep us together warm and safe. I felt so much guilt for what I had done. Neri had fallen swiftly into my life and Daniel had drifted out. I never wanted to hurt the poor boy, but if he had known about my relationship with my music teacher, maybe he wouldn't have stumbled onto what…well, I can't imagine anyone _not_ being scarred by what he must have seen, regarding his feelings towards me.

_"M-Mr. Sempere, I-Is Daniel there?" I asked, ever so scared for what must have been seen. "It's Clara."_

_ "Oh, Clara, I'm sorry. No, he went out a few hours ago. I don't think he took to your lack of presence here very well," he said. I couldn't tell if he was spiteful or just trying to poke fun of the situation. Mr. Sempere was very open and very reserved all at the same time. He was always a kind man, and sometimes that distorted my interpretation of what he truly meant when he spoke._

_ "Yes, I uh…" I laughed nervously, desperately trying to make up some sort of rye excuse for how my plans had shifted._

_ "Your music lesson, yes, Bernarda came over and told us. How did that go?"_

_ Bernarda. What a sweet woman she was to willingly come to the Sempere's and offer herself up as the bearer of bad news. Mr. Sempere's innocent question came with so much complication and guilt and remorse. I was filled with regret, and knew Daniel should have been informed years earlier of the state of our relationship. He had avoided the topic many times lately, and so I knew he knew what it was. He knew we could never be more than friends, but I realized then that it had to be said for it to truly resonate and ring true in his beliefs of what we were._

_ "Could you just tell Daniel to call me? W-When he gets back?" I asked, clutching to the phone for dear life. Mr. Sempere must've been able to sense my worry, but I wasn't going to make it known further. He would no doubt ask, then, if something was wrong, and I just couldn't find it in myself to tell him exactly what had happened. I got the feeling Daniel wouldn't either._

_ "Sure, Clara," he said, worry lacing his words. I could sense how concerned and confused he must be, and how many questions he wanted to ask._

_ "It doesn't matter what time," I said, eager to get that point across. The sooner I talked to Daniel, the better. Even if it changed nothing, I needed him to know that I was sorry, that I never meant for him to find out that way, and that he did and still does mean an awful lot to me. "Any time, any time at all."_

_ "Okay…" he said, almost unsure of himself. I heard his quiet sigh on the other line and knew he was just about beside himself._

_ "I'll be waiting for the call." I nodded hastily, as if I really thought he could see me._

_ "Clara—"_

_ "I'm sorry to have disturbed you, Mr. Sempere. Goodnight."_

The man must have known I didn't want him to say anything else, not in regards to Daniel, and small talk regarding my uncle was surely out of the question at that time of night. Mr. Sempere must have known something bad had happened. I didn't want to just hang up on him like I did, but I had to get away from that concerned tone of his. It felt like encroaching danger to me and I was doing my best to find shelter from it. The call experience alone left me shaking as I leaned heavily on my hands over the base of the phone. I was surprised I didn't actually call the emergency number to deliver me from my insanity.

It wouldn't be another seven days until my next music lesson. There was a possibility Neri would apologize, but my instinct showed me that he would just move past it as though the only thing that had happened this night was our first throes of passion amidst a pounding thunderstorm, the rain dancing with musical notes all around us, just like in our lessons. Uncle Gustavo and that precious maid of ours, Bernarda, would be able to distract me as well, and I knew it wouldn't be hard to put this memory as far back in my mind as it would go. It would be placed in the same little box that told me Neri's teasing of Daniel was harmless.

But ever I would be waiting for that call. Daniel was not an easy boy to forget. And after six years, it would be nearly impossible. I knew it from the moment I first touched his face, forever memorizing the features displayed throughout his blushing skin.

_"How old are you?" I had asked that first that day in the Anteneo._

_ "Almost eleven," he had replied proudly. "How old are you, Miss Clara?"_

_ I had laughed, feeling his cheeky innocence the most adorable thing I'd experienced in awhile. It had sent a warm, thrilling sensation thrumming through me. Never before had I considered a child so wonderful to be around, even in the beginning._

_ "Almost twice your age," I had said, "but even so, there's no need to call me Miss Clara." _

_ "You seem younger, miss," he remarked. Now I knew he was trying to cover up his own indiscretion. _

_ "I'll trust you, then," I said, "because I don't know what I look like. But if I seem younger to you, all the more reason to drop the 'miss'."_

_ "Whatever you say, Miss Clara."_

_He had refused, and there would be no dissuading him, not for some time at least. He was firm in his decision, and for that I admired him. _

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A/N: For those of you have read the book – which I'm sure none of you have XD – yes, that last flashback is actually part of a scene from the book. Same dialogue and actions, I just changed the POV from Daniel's to Clara's. ;p Thanks for reading! Please review! Soon the chapters will get longer…just give me a bit of time to write up an outline. Hehe.


	3. Bait

A/N: So, I wrote an outline. The rest of these chapters should be decently long, so you can thank me for that (only if you're actually reading of course). ;p Please review if you read. Thanks much!

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**Ch.3—Bait**

Daniel never called back, and the next week flew by without a warning. I had hoped that the week would at least bow to my wishes a little bit and slow down. It wouldn't have been the end of the world if a couple hours had been added on to each day, I don't think. Maybe there would be several leap years, but that wouldn't end existence. And the only thing that seemed to haunting me lately was that dreaded vision Daniel Sempere must have seen on the night of his sixteenth birthday. _How awful. _I just knew I had to somehow make it up to him – for his sake, if not for my own.

Neri's presence filled the room and I shifted a bit on the piano bench. He was back for my weekly music lesson, just like he said he would be. He flirted with Bernarda in the hall, and admired my uncle sitting in his study for all his excellent talents and great, famous books. When he got to the music room – the room that _I_ was in – and shut the door behind him, I stiffened.

"Miss Clara," he said, dragging a chair along the pale wood floors until it was directly behind me to the right. I cleared my throat, unwilling to acknowledge the shrill sound he had made with the feet of the chair against the floor. There was also no softness to my voice to suggest a closer relationship than that of just teacher to pupil.

"Maestro Neri, where shall we begin?" I asked, politely.

I heard him crack his knuckles before he leaned forward and readjusted my hands on the piano keys. They were two keys off, as always. I sat there as still as I could, and waited for him to finish. When he announced which piano piece he wanted me to play, I frowned.

"You haven't taught that one to me yet, Maestro."

I could feel his cocky smirk. It was written in every word he spoke. "I told you to practice, Miss Clara." He leaned closer and whispered hotly in my ear. "Don't you remember what I taught you?"

I swallowed hard and squeezed my eyes shut to prevent from getting too hot and bothered. The man was nothing if not persistent. This was how our music lessons had been for at least the last five minutes and they almost always ended in a _rough_, 'physical activity' – on the days when Daniel hadn't been there anyway. Today I wouldn't let that happen though. It hadn't even been five minutes and he already shifted his body from the chair he dragged recklessly across the floor to the space of wood beside me on the bench. My breath caught in my throat.

At this point, _normally_, I would tell him I had forgotten everything I'd learned, and then he'd make to re-teach me because I would plead desperately for him to do so. It was all a game, and it had always been such fun and _hot_ foreplay. But suddenly, and by the grace of_ God_, my remorse over how poor Daniel must still be feeling overrode my intense sudden desire by Adrian Neri from his few smarmy words, and I grew cold.

"You never taught it to me, Maestro," I said simply. He was still smirking, I could feel, but he wouldn't be when I finished what I had to say. "And I can't _see_," I spat. "There would be no way for me to learn what is out of my grasp."

If the smirk had vanished from his face, that was no longer the case. His hands came around and wrapped along the curve of my waist. "I-I don't know the notes, t-the right keys," I stuttered, cursing myself for it. His breath was hot against my neck and while one hand released its grasp from my body to guide my hands on the piano keys, the other squeezed my hip and slowly traveled downwards.

"Play," he whispered into my ear.

I didn't know what to do. He was being completely irrational and ridiculous. _Play the key? Which one? For how long? Then what?_ None of it made sense. And what was even more nonsensical was the fact that every time before I would not have thought twice about following his orders. I couldn't believe I had allowed myself to get sucked into it every time. As I thought more and more about our relationship as a whole, it all just seemed like one endless seduction, and I was one easy catch. Well, _no more_, especially not after the fact of what had happened last week, and his obvious decision to ignore it – which I had predicted to the tee.

"No," I ground out after a few long breathless moments. I felt his tongue flick out on the very edge of my ear lobe and knew he thought I was teasing him – playing hard to get. I had done it maybe twice before, and it had been awhile. It wasn't entirely the most preposterous assumption gathering in my actions and demeanor. But there was still that tiny detail of Daniel walking in on us the week before that had me riled up in the worst way possible. And Neri didn't have the slightest clue.

"Come on, Clara," he murmured, rolling the 'r' in my name. His head switched over to the other side of my face and leaned in to my other ear. "I know you w—"

I stood to my feet, making the piano bench screech as it scooted backwards. Neri had fallen off the bench to be sure, even to the floor, I was quite positive, but he didn't yell. He didn't curse. And I could still feel the heat of lust emanating off of every inch of him as I brought the wood pull-out cover over the piano keys and turned around.

"Enough practice for today?" he questioned, stopping just before me and toying with a lock of my hair straying from the rest.

"Get out," I said, walking out of distance from him as he stood there stock still in silence. I could tell he was still trying to turn what I was doing into some sort of cat and mouse game, but it wasn't – far from it. He just didn't get that. "I'm not playing around, Adrian," I said, dead serious.

He scoffed after about a minute or so of unsettling silence. I think the short time span was what kicked in his awareness of _what_ the situation was – what my problem was. And that it didn't have _anything_ to do with my horniness being unfulfilled.

"Like hell you're not," he spat, probably hoping to drive a reaction out of me. He was met with only silence and my pretty pursed lips. "What is it then?" he asked, folding his arms across his chest.

"Don't tell me you've already forgotten about last week?" I asked, aghast. Though truly, I was not that surprised. I had predicted this. _Was it so wrong to hope though, for the fault in what I sensed would come?_

"This is about _Daniel_?" he asked, not trying in the least to hold back his cackle. It made me shiver when he referred to Daniel as the scum of the earth. He may not have ever said it directly, but it was not hard to read between the lines. I had done it all my life when people spoke of me in hidden words on the street. I hated when Neri did it. Speaking poorly of Daniel was the one thing that always put distance between us. I couldn't help but be a little afraid, especially when he was the closer one to the door.

"Please leave, Maestro Neri. I will try to practice my piano piece better for next week," I said, standing all prim and proper across from him in my ironed pencil skirt. I knew there was no way I could practice it, but perhaps Uncle could get me the proper finger sheets and I could discover it on my own.

"Clara," he began, clearly trying to reason with me.

"Adrian," I said sharply, leaving no room for discussion. He took a deep breath, clearly trying to save his pride and his claim on me all in the space of a few moments.

"Wednesday," he said. I said nothing. "In three days, on Wednesday, I'll come back for your lesson." I stood there without moving a single inch. He turned to leave, sighing and shaking his head. He gathered up his music materials, freezing on the spot when I spoke my final words.

"I don't want you to come back before you have some respect for Daniel Sempere."

"_The sixteen year old?!"_ he asked, aghast. My only response was the return of my pursed lips. Then I heard a slam, and I knew he had gone. What I didn't know was when he'd return, if at all. At the moment, it did not really bother me.

For twenty minutes I sat inside the music room still, now back on the bench facing towards the door. I had placed the chair that wretched man had touched and scratched against the floor back in its appropriate location against the wall. I tried to rid myself of all thoughts but found the task impossible. The disruption was none at all, but just a joy to hear my uncle knocking on the wooden door. He brought me into the passageway of countless tropical plants, where I could feel and smell the beauty of nature. There he questioned me as to what had happened, and there I asked him what could be done because I did not know what to do.

"Well, it definitely must be scarring for the boy," my Uncle mused, placing his two fingertips along his bottom lip and chin as he always did. I sighed.

"Yes, I know. I feel awful."

"I'm sure," he said, clearly tensing up. I knew he was trying to find some way to help me but I didn't want to burden him either. Regardless of my wit and independent mind, I would never have wanted this kind of pain for any of those that I love.

"If it's too much, Uncle, I understand. I mean—"

"Give him time, Clara," he said, ignoring my words.

"Hmm?" I asked, clearly confused in his rejection of the wall I had tried to build up.

"Daniel. He's sixteen, has been infatuated, maybe even in love with you since day one, and he just walked in on…" he sighed, "what I want you to _never_ tell me about again."

I nodded, feeling the exact same way. It had been awkward enough in passing. I was sure I had blushed, at least a little. For all the white skin I was told I had, there _had_ to be a shade of pink flushing my cheeks at the moment I told my Uncle Gustavo of my sexual encounter with Adrian Neri on the night of Daniel's sixteenth birthday.

"Just give him more time, Clara."

I nodded again.

"If you want him back in your life like before, it's going to be difficult. Now he has proof the two of you will never be more than friends. That'll be hard to fight with one that has as intense of feelings as Daniel has for you."

I swallowed hard. "I understand, Uncle."

He breathed in deeply and stood to his feet, squeezing my shoulder before moving to walk away. I grabbed hold of his arm before he could get too far away.

"About Adrien—"

"Maestro Neri?" he corrected. I sighed to myself, recognizing how more-than-friends I was with the cocky rich boy I had kicked out of the house twice in one week.

"Yes."

"Not before Wednesday?" he asked. I knew he was smiling, because I smiled a bit too. The older man had clearly heard the tail end of our conversation and was just waiting for me to come forward.

"I promise," he said, and then walked away.

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The next morning when I woke up, I felt weary. The activities from the day before had worn me out, and I figured the only way to recover from such a feat would be to take a walk in the middle of the town. After breakfast I felt my way to my wardrobe and changed into appropriate attire, checking twice with Bernarda to see if I looked all right. As soon as she approved, I motioned for her to come closer and then whispered to her of my desire to go into town that morning.

"Well, my dear, I'm sure it's perfectly fine. You know how your Uncle only ever puts book-reading above walking in the bliss of the sunshine," she laughed gaily.

I nodded once, smiling a little. "Yes, but I need someone to go with me, to lead me," I emphasized, realizing that she had yet to catch on.

"Oh, my dear! Of course I will take you!" she jumped at the opportunity. "Just let me grab my jacket," she tossed lightly over her shoulder, briskly walking across the hall to grab it and then guiding me to the door. I was smiling when we left. The woman really knew how to lift anyone's spirits, especially when not trying to.

Bernarda led me gently through the city streets, making sure to warn me of the edges of the sidewalks or when we were about to stumble across a giant red fire hydrant. I have learned throughout my life that I can sense certain people, even if I cannot necessarily see them. I don't know how to explain it. It's just a feeling I get, a sort of flash that flies behind blind eyes that maybe clear-sighted people call color. It frustrates people, I think, that they can't explain much to me, since there is not much I know of the _colorful_ world the majority of all mankind knows and experiences daily. A few people I know though, can describe colors wonderfully to me, and I have found that those are the ones I have grown close to, and those are the ones I can sense. I can sense Daniel, his father, my uncle, and Bernarda. I can also sense Neri and a few of my friends, but there intensity is less than that of the others. Mr. Sempere's brilliance is probably less too, but I feel since he is related to Daniel, I just need to find a slightly different glow in my mind to reach for. Then I will find him.

That was my goal in coming into town that day.

"Mr. Sempere!" I gasped, whispering in a hush to the loyal maid beside me.

"Oh yes!" she said, clearly excited, though I could tell she was not entirely sure as to who he was. "Daniel's father?" she questioned.

I nodded. "Yes. Might we speak with him?"

"You wish to?" she asked.

"Yes," I breathed. She seemed to sense my quiet desperation and summoned the man over. Then she made a simple excuse for herself to slip into a store across the street. Mr. Sempere promised to wave her over when we were through with our discussion.

"Miss Clara," he said, politely, "Looking lovely as always."

I smiled, appreciative of what he was trying to do. I wondered how well he would take what I was about to say, and about to ask, and about to suggest. I really had no idea of how to go about the situation, especially since my last conversation with the man had been a crazed phone call the night of his son's sixteenth birthday, during the time of what _should have been_ his party.

"Thank-you, Mr. Sempere," I responded. "Acting cordial and polite, as always appreciated."

I felt his small smile in return, and decided to take the quiet pause between us to dive into the deep topic I was afraid to open the lid to.

"It's funny running into y—"

"You didn't run into me, Mr. Sempere."

He was confused, though making no defense.

"I planned this. I came to talk to you about Daniel. Could we?" I gestured towards what I hoped was the side of a building. I knew the transition of all this must not be easy and that Mr. Sempere was surely at least shocked at what I had just revealed to him, but still he guided me over to some vacant chairs gathered around a table at what must have been the café I was pointing to.

"I don't know anything about this," he said before I had even gotten my mouth open to speak. He seemed agitated now, jittery, and I felt partially to blame. "Could y—"

"No," I shook my head. "I can't tell you what happened. I only know that it probably scarred Daniel very much, and I am sorry for that. The event was too traumatic for me to repeat. I just need to know what you've seen from Daniel. How, from your perspective, he has taken it."

The man sighed and leaned back in his chair, clearly at a loss for words.

"Daniel came home very late the night you called, too late for him to call you back," he said. I was about to interrupt and inform him that a week had passed since then, but he steeled my voice when he covered his hand with my own. I have heard this is probably the equivalent to holding up a hand in front of those who can see in order to get them to stop talking, or to not even start.

"He told me," he continued, "that he no longer wanted to see or speak with you again."

I pursed my lips hard in order to force the tears threatening to spill to stay inside my eyes. Mr. Sempere smoothed his fingers across my hand a little. I could tell in his voice that he was defending his son, and probably would no matter the circumstances, but I was also a blind girl and that brings wanted and unwanted sympathy. This time it was wanted, and I was glad Mr. Sempere was one of the kind, simple men of the neighborhood.

"I just decided to respect his wishes."

"D-Did you ever ask him about what may have happened?" I breathed, sobs tempting me at every word.

"No," he shook his head. "If he wants to tell me one day, he will."

I nodded softly. "So, he's said nothing about me?" I could feel him shaking his head slowly. "Nothing?" I asked, in quiet desperation. The thought seemed inconceivable to me. I did not take pride or boast about how much Daniel Sempere admired and longed to be around me. But I found the fact of some terrible heartbreak regarding me and his mortal enemy – most likely – being kept a secret. _Had he told __**no one**__ what he felt?_

"Nothing, Miss Clara," he almost whispered, sympathy clearly lacing his words.

I licked my lips and ducked my head into the thickness of the air surrounding my chest and shoulders. I felt as Mr. Sempere's hands left my own and that left me feeling truly cold and alone.

"Shall I wave Miss Bernarda over?" he asked quietly, yet clearly trying to switch back to a casual air. I sighed heavy and long into the air around us and hoped he could see my gentle nod and the barely visible parting of my lips.

"Yes," I whispered.

* * *

It was late afternoon by the time we got back. I had dried up any tears that might have tried to make their new destination my cheek or chin before Bernarda crossed the street back to where I sat with Mr. Sempere just outside the café. She was quite chipper and seemed to have forgotten her need to step away for those brief thirty-five minutes I spent with Mr. Sempere. Thirty-five minutes in thought itself seems like much longer than it actually felt to me on that day in town. Everything was flying by so quickly, I hardly had time to catch up with myself breathing.

Half-way home Bernarda decided to take off. She had some off-handed excuse about needing to babysit one of her younger nieces or nephews and I gladly let her depart with a smile. I wondered why she would not come back with me to gather her things, but then I remembered she kept very few of her possessions at our house and thus could just retrieve them the next day when she came in for work. My uncle seemed to never be around these days, always off purchasing books or talking with dealers about their need to sell or keep whatever possessions he believed were needed for his own collection. I often chuckled about my uncle's quirks, but with everything swimming in my mind I wanted him around more.

Desires did not get me far though, and a deepening emptiness filled me when I opened the door to my Uncle's house and found it empty. The further I came into the house however, the more I felt something was wrong. I was not the only one inside our lavish apartment and I was scared for a moment that it might be a burglar. _What could a blind, broken girl do against a burglar?_ Thankfully, it was not. I could feel that sensation of someone I knew wash over me. I desperately wanted it to be Daniel, though I did not know on the spot what in the world I would have said to him, or how I would have kept him from leaving. I reached around in front and out into the sides of me to feel my way to where my sense was leading me. The closer I got to it, the stronger it became. However the sensation finally stopped in its intensity and I realized it could have never been Daniel. I sighed, and felt the presence just ahead of me turn around.

"Neri," I said blankly, though glad once more that I was in no real harm's way. I felt safe this time too. We were not in my bedroom and he was not closer to the door in a shut off music room. Plus, he had been the last of us to do wrong, and he had been doing wrong for awhile. I was at no fault, and strangely enough it did not bother me that no one else was home.

"Adrian," he corrected, walking towards me.

"Stop," I said, and he did, surprisingly. "What are you doing here?" I asked exasperatedly, running a hand through my hair.

"I'm sorry," he said. The words made me speechless. I wanted to yell at him, to tell him that it was not good enough, that he wasn't supposed to come until Wednesday, and even then I probably would have made him leave. Of course, all of these potential sources of power would've been easier to tap into had there been other people in the vicinity.

It was still daylight, but sunset was not more than two hours away. I could feel him walking towards me again, and had the vulnerability emanating off of him not been so strong, I would've walked away, maybe even concealed myself in my room until he left. I did not want him to try and seduce me again. I knew he would succeed if he tried. It was exactly what I needed after another emotionally draining day.

"I hate Daniel," he said once he was within a foot of me. He took my hands in his own and held them gently in his embrace. I should have snapped my hands away, but I could only find it in me to narrow my eyebrows.

"Not a good start," I spat.

He sighed. "I don't know what you've been doing with a low-life like him, and why you've been doing it for so long…"

"Adrian," I warned.

"But I love you."

My lips parted. I certainly had not expected _that_.

"You make me a better person, Clara. You make me want to finish my symphony, to care about people, to stop being the reckless jerk that seems to always stir up trouble. I don't want to lose you. I'll fall apart and become reckless again. I know I will."

"You can make yourself stop," I argued, lowering my eyes to the floor, pretending I could see it. The one benefit to being blind, I would always remind myself, was not being able to see the disappointment or guilt written on people's faces when they were the most intent on showing it. Though sometimes I wished I could see it.

"No," he said. "I'm not that far yet."

"Neri," I groaned, sick of the conversation already. My fingers tingled in his hands, aching to be free. "Why are you doing this? Why don't you just leave? You know I can't have you around me when you hate the boy I never can."

He sighed. "I know. I'm a rude, pompous jerk, and I don't deserve you. But he's a kid, and he doesn't deserve you even more…"

"You're jealous," I said, dropping my hands from his.

His eyebrows narrowed. "What?" he asked in disbelief.

"You're jealous. You're jealous of a sixteen year old boy I'll never think of as anything more than a little brother." He gaped, still not believing a word that had come out of my mouth. "He's ten years younger than me, Neri!" I almost screamed. I felt around for his face with my left hand, and then slapped him hard on his opposite cheek with my right hand. I expected him to yell or push or try to seduce me…something. But he never did.

"I don't want to lose you," he repeated, not denying what I had accused him of, but not admitting to it either. I knew his pride would not let him admit it, but maybe his heart wouldn't let him deny it. Maybe he wasn't jealous but he would just accept the accusation if I would let him stay, if I would keep him in my heart, whatever status he held there.

"Do you regret it?"

He said nothing.

"_Beating up_ and _kicking Daniel Sempere_ out of _my_ house. Do you _regret_ it?"

He gulped, but still said nothing. I sighed, extremely frustrated, and turning away. I couldn't handle being around the boy who had so blinded me into believing he was a man that cared for more than a lay and an advance in his career. _His love confession be damned._

"Clara," he called after me, grabbing my arm. I tried to get away but couldn't, and only by the friction of my mind versus my heart. I was frozen. "Please," he begged. I could hear the tears in his voice and knew if I felt his face for the moisture that I would melt immediately. _So deep had Adrian Neri cast his spell on me._

I turned back towards him. "Find Daniel. Make things right. Give him the keys," I said, and turned away after the final word. I headed towards my room and shut the door behind me. I was too exhausted to slam it, but there was no ordinary stillness in how I closed the wooden wall.

I did not have to explain to Neri what reward lie in wait if he did what I asked, if regardless of how he felt and what he believed, he would put it aside for what I wanted and needed more than anything else. Because the reward I offered was the one he wanted and needed for himself. I knew he would take the bait, and I was glad for it. I was glad for the slam five minutes after I had retreated to my room. If he truly loved me as he said, my reward for him he would be unable to live without.

_Forgiveness._

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A/N: Well, hope you loved it! =D Please review! ;p I'll try to update soon! *beams* =D


	4. Revelation

A/N: So, it's been far too long since I wrote _anything_, but…I've been getting all my stuff together to go back to school, and now that I'm back…well, I also finished reading The Shadow of the Wind to its completion. Holy Crap. Amazing book. And you know, Clara ends up alone, Daniel hooks up with someone his own age (_thank GOD_), and Neri remains a womanizer to the end. XD So, my story is definitely different…lol. I blame Gossip Girl & Chuck and Blair. They have poisoned me to make me want to make bad boys good. Haha. Ah well. Enjoy the chapter, and please review if you read!

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**Ch.4—Revelation**

It was late when he came back, and truth be told I hadn't really thought he was going to do something that night. It was almost two hours past when Bernarda had left at about ten. I had been sitting in my room, on a chair by my window, waiting for him to return or for sleep to take me. I heard my uncle coming in about twenty minutes after Neri had left. He seemed happy to see me, but didn't stay long and instead hastened up into the study. I couldn't tell if he had sensed I was upset or troubled, but all I wanted was peace and quiet until Neri returned, so I didn't press the matter further.

Neri cleared his throat as he turned the knob on my bedroom door and pushed it open. I felt a greater presence than I had been expecting and suddenly felt overwhelmed with heat.

"Daniel," I breathed. I could tell his breathing had changed when I said his name, and almost succumbed to the adoring nature I felt in him.

"I, uh…talked things through with him, Clara," Neri's voice suddenly erupted the unsettling silence. I couldn't really seem to get words to form though, and instead just turned my head ever so slightly in Neri's direction and nodded. The door closed and I hoped that Daniel hadn't gone with him. Steps approached me soon after, and I breathed a small sigh of relief.

"Your Maestro said you might want to talk to me," the still voice of Daniel Sempere said. I reached out to feel for a nearby chair, but I could not seem to grasp it properly, only air. Daniel spotted it though, and brought it about three feet away, so he could sit across from me in conversation without having to get too close. I was greatly troubled and really did not know how to go about talking to him, but I swallowed hard and my lips parted.

"I'm so sorry," I said, feeling the slight tilt of his head as he nodded. Silence watered down my words and I wondered if I'd lost him completely. Those with sight took it for granted, I had always thought, but the scarring images Daniel must have seen just over a week ago…

"I know," he responded finally, interrupting my thoughts.

"I never wanted to hurt you," I said.

"I know," he repeated, not even moving. His expression hardly shifted from the moment before. I didn't know what to say after that. I didn't know what I _could_ say, how I could fix what I had so completely broken. I was lucky enough to get him in the same room with me, I knew, but I could have _never_ imagined the follow-up steps were going to be so difficult and on such unknown territory.

"Do you hate me?" I asked tentatively. I heard him sigh, and swallowed hard.

"No," he said, quietly. My brows furrowed, confused.

"Why?" I asked, not stopping to think before the question burst out of my mouth. The chair screeched after that and he stood to his feet. "Daniel!" I called to him, scared he would just leave right then without speaking. His presence tensed and then grew a bit shaky. I couldn't reach him from where I sat and I immediately thought myself a fool for having let him sit so far away, even if it was a relatively close distance.

"Because," he sighed, sitting back in his chair. I relaxed in my own, having reached forward with desperation before. I waited awhile to see if he would say more and when he didn't, I grew frustrated.

"Because," I stated simply. I knew I shouldn't have been mad at him for being unable to express what still must be visible behind closed lids, but I wanted to know more. _How was I supposed to fix the situation if I didn't know exactly what he was feeling and thinking? _

"I'm not a mind reader, Daniel," I said, tilting my head to the side as if in curiosity, as if I were analyzing him with my blinded white eyes. "Tell me what you're feeling."

It was the wrong thing to say. I should have known. His presence grew tight, tense, and I knew he was suppressing a raging anger to what I had said.

"What I'm _feeling?!_" he shouted in a whisper.

I pursed my lips. He held me in such reverence. All he did after that was breathe heavily and shift restlessly in his chair. I knew he wanted to get up and leave, or at least create some distance between us, but he didn't. He had always admired me so, that even when I was in the wrong, he would not accuse me of anything.

"I…" he ground out, "I think I should go," he said quietly, his eyes glued to the floor. My lips parted and I wanted so badly to know what I could do to keep him there. He stood to his feet again. This time he did it slowly so as not to screech the feet of the chair across the wood floor. He was careful in how he moved, knowing that I would make a desperate attempt to keep him still if he moved too fast.

"Please," I begged, hardly able to hear my own voice. I wondered if he could.

"I'm in love with you, Clara," his breath caught in his throat. My hands clenched on the arms of my chair, almost as if I was afraid I'd fall off, but I forced myself to remain calm. I had caught wind of his feeling gradually throughout the years, but somehow his confession crushed me like a bomb and I didn't know how to react. It was such a different feeling than Neri's fury-filled love confession had been. This swept over me with a shivering heat of helplessness. I had no power, and Daniel seemed hesitant to take any. We were ever unbalanced and hurt in our own ways, not just today, and not even in the last week.

Daniel gulped, forcing himself to stand still as I watched him. "I _need_ to go," he forced. A tear ebbed up from the depths of my eye and I heard the quiet moan from inside of him when it slipped down the side of my face.

"You and I can never be friends…" he began again, "and though not being with you is like not breathing, living in the painful world of being with you and being nothing is…" he shook his head, seeming unable to take his own words and believe them and use them as his defense. His chair slipped back farther behind him and he turned to move.

"Why can't we be friends?" I begged. "I enjoy your company, Daniel. I always have. I don't want to lose our friendship, and I'm so sorry for what you had to walk in on."

He swallowed hard and didn't move. I feared the worst, though in the back of my mind I hoped he would reconsider the decision he had so clearly planned beforehand. "I'm sorry, Clara." He backed away again, and I knew he was getting farther and farther out of my reach. I leaned over one more time and thanked my luck for having grabbed onto the sleeve of his shirt.

"Stay," I begged, my fingers curling tightly into the fabric of his shirt. "Read to me. Just like before."

"You're blind, Clara."

I swallowed hard, knowing he didn't mean in the literal sense.

"I can't stay."

* * *

The door squeaked open half an hour later. I knew it wasn't Daniel, and my uncle's humming from above also discarded him as a possibility. Bernarda had most definitely already gone home for the night, and so only one other character could have decided to bombard me at that time of night.

"Leave," I spat. I knew he had done all he could, but I was still so very heartbroken over my conversation with Daniel, and Neri's attempts to console me would only make me furious. At that point in time I wanted to just throw away our relationship all together and just have my uncle hire a different music teacher. It was the only solution I thought might mend my friendship with Daniel.

"I take it things didn't go well…" Neri muttered, closing the door behind him. I said nothing, but kicked the chair just across from me aside. I didn't want Neri anywhere near me, though experience taught me my feeble, angry attempts would not be enough of a wall to keep him away. Soon he was looming over me, and I sighed, knowing he would say something I probably wouldn't approve of but would gradually come to appreciate.

"Were you eavesdropping?" I asked, before he could slip another word in.

"What can I do?" he asked, avoiding my question. I felt he was always avoiding my questions. It just made him look all the more guilty.

"Leave," I said, softer this time. I was being far too mean, but if he didn't leave soon, all my anger and frustration would be directed towards him. He just knew how to get to me, even when he wasn't trying. As he strung his fingers through a few strands of my hair, I just about exploded. "This is not for your best interest, Adrian."

He smirked. "You always were _so_ selfless, Clara," he cooed, moving his fingers from my locks of hair to the curve of my chin. That was when I snapped. Shooting to my feet, I pushed at him and triumphed at the small victory that came from him stumbling a few feet backwards.

"_Leave_," I ground out, hoping he would _finally_ take the hint. I should have known better.

"Why?" he taunted.

"Because this is _your_ fault!" I accused, my voice rising. In hindsight, I _did_ feel his presence shifting from that of concerned and yet playful to angry.

"My fault? How?"

"You know how," I egged him on. "If you hadn't been here that night, _none_ _of this_ would have happened."

"You _asked_ me to come. You _chose_ not to go to his party. And you were leading him on anyway. If not last week, it would have been soon. He doesn't see you as a friend! Doesn't want to anyways," he muttered, seeming to have come down from his rant.

I turned away, frustrated. He was right. I knew he was right. But I just wanted him to leave. I didn't want him to try and comfort me, seduce me, or prove me wrong. I couldn't even consider myself grateful for what he had done for me. It didn't even amount to what had happened this night.

"But I didn't ask you to chase after me!" I almost screamed, pushing him away, he grabbed a hold of my arms and held me to him. My cries muffled into him, but after a moment I pushed him away again. "I didn't ask for anything, Neri. You know that. Besides, you're a known womanizer. I suggest you get back to that."

He was silent for a long time. I wondered if I had hurt him. He had acted so full of himself when I'd first met him. It had completely changed and only been directed towards Daniel, but that was what hurt me the most. I missed Daniel already. I was always so casual around him, like his presence didn't affect me too much, because he was just a kid after all. It was like I had taken him for granted. Maybe I had been blind to his developed feelings. I remember hearing from Bernarda in the shadows how dangerous it would be if Daniel allowed himself into obsession, and if I let him reach it. But I ignored it. He couldn't love me, I thought. And even now I tried to ignore the fact that he had blatantly placed before me. _He was only sixteen after all. What did he know how about love?_

"Do you…regret…_us_?" he asked, his breath caught in his throat.

"Yes," I said immediately, my mind thrumming with thoughts of Daniel, unable to get over what I had done to him, what Neri had helped me do. I didn't consider what my words might have done to Adrian. At that moment he didn't seem like someone who had a heart, only a _dick_, even if he wasn't trying to use it. After all, it had only been recently that I had noticed the softening of his demeanor. _Could I really be blamed for dismissing it just this once in my agony?_

"Well…" he said, regaining his strength. My attention snapped back to him, and as angry as I was about the whole situation, I suddenly realized what I'd done. "I guess I should go," he spat.

I felt him moving towards the door and knew I needed to beat him to it and stop him and explain. But it just didn't feel right. It felt too much to try as I had done with Daniel to make Neri stay. I hadn't hurt Neri nearly as much. He would get over it. I wasn't _that_ attached to him, and surely he could adjust to his life as a womanizer again. It wasn't as if we were monogamous anyways.

_So, why was Daniel suddenly the farthest thing from my mind, and my heart stretching so much as to tear apart with his every step?_ Adrian's name struggled to make it through my throat, but it never happened. I couldn't even whisper it once he had gone.

I thought he was going to slam the door. His final words had sounded so angry. But he had gently shut it, and I think that hurt worse. I had actually caused him pain, instead of just bruising his ego. It made me feel so rotten, like I had ruined _both_ of them. Tears sprung to my eyes, and I forced myself to move around the room and find the light switch and turn it off. Then I slipped into bed and hoped sleep would come to me.

* * *

I heard a soft knock on my door about an hour later. I turned towards the sound in my bed and made a soft moaning sound to admit my uncle into the room. I knew it was him. There were no other options, and his large presence pulling the chair I had been sitting on to my bed definitely confirmed my suspicions.

"Clara, are you awake?" he had asked tentatively, while making his way through the room. I sighed, and he nodded as he settled onto the chair. "I'll take that as a yes." I felt as he tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear, and knew he could tell from my teary sigh that I'd been crying.

"I'm not twelve, Uncle Gustavo," I chuckled quietly. "You don't have to come and check up on me after I've gone to bed."

I could feel the light of his smile and felt comforted by the softness of his hand all the same. Growing up had been tough until my uncle chose to take me into his life on a more protective, permanent basis.

"I'm twenty-six," I said, a hint of uncertainty in my voice. I couldn't understand why I had said it. Uncle Gustavo knew my age, and with Daniel around it was easy to not forget. He paused for awhile and when his lips finally parted, I felt a lecture coming on – a lecture, as if I were a teenager.

"And yet, here you are, getting overly dramatic about the after-effects you've bestowed on a sixteen-year old."

I sighed, knowing he was right. All of this was so foolish. Daniel was like a little brother, but more. He was a friend, but…a special friend. But nothing more, never more. _He just_…I felt so awful.

"I just talked to Maestro Neri," my uncle began again, gently switching my gears back to what he had to say. I could sense him shifting uncomfortably on the chair, and I tucked my face deeper into the pillow. I knew whatever he was going to say couldn't be good. I had been so awful to Neri, regardless of what he had done. This time around he had been helpful, and I just pushed him off. I told him, even if it was in the heat of the moment, that I regretted our union all together.

"He was in quite a rush to get out of here, Clara…"

I gulped silently.

"He said he won't be back for two weeks, something about some huge opportunity to help finish his symphony…" he gestured his hand around as he spoke. His voice was lighthearted, but I felt the underlining tone that he no-doubt was about to explain. "Clara—"

"I'm really tired, Uncle," I cut him off, not wanting the lecture, or even the concern. I was _twenty-six_ – blind or not – I didn't need it.

"Of course," he nodded silently, standing from his seat and pushing the chair back from where it had come against the wall by the window. He turned back towards me before making to leave the room. "I won't ask you to explain your involvement in Maestro Neri's actions, but I am not oblivious to how people move around you, Clara, how they have moved around you your entire life."

I pulled the blanket tighter around me, hoping he would just drop the subject and leave me to my thoughts. I was definitely going to dwell on his words. I had always avoided thinking too deeply about the boys in my life and how I affected them. I was just always free-falling Clara, without a care in the world. Now suddenly I had lost the boys I held most dear, besides Uncle. And I couldn't stop thinking what that said about me.

"You are very beautiful, and very charming, Clara – usually without even trying."

I breathed uneasily, but stilled myself so as to hear more clearly what exactly it was that he was trying to say. My head was spinning, and I was sure it was from all the stress that was so obviously not a part of my daily life. It seemed dangerous to even be surrounded by it, let alone think about it and have to deal with it.

"It might be in your best interest to depend on more than that to get in people's good graces."

I sighed wearily. "Uncle, I'm—"

"You're tired," he laughed lightly, "Yes, I know, and I hope you sleep well. Just…"

_…think about it_, I finished in my head.

"I will," my lips pursed in a smile. It was an unwritten agreement between the two of us and a wave of contentment, or at the very least hope, passed over me when my uncle's lips pressed to my forehead. I knew what he was thinking. I knew he thought I was just a little vain, just a little bit a teenager in a woman's body, just a little overwhelmed by what I felt by Daniel and Neri, and how much they felt for me, and what I was to do with it.

But he said nothing in regards to that, and for that I loved him.

"Goodnight, Clara," he said, making his way to the doorway as quiet as he could with his large clomping feet. The light that crept in through the door in the hallway gave me a sense of hope even if the darkness seemed to be consuming me only moments earlier. My uncle hadn't spoken anything of what positive decision could be made to fix any of the drama that, though I blamed Neri almost fully, was caused by me.

My uncle had called me childish, had accused everything of being my fault, and that I was so vain it was the only reason men were drawn to me. It seemed to me like in those stories with the beautiful women and the leering men. They always fell in love with her, but when her beauty started to fade with age, so did their admiration for her, and in the end she was all alone. It scared me that Uncle Gustavo might see me as that beautiful woman. It was flattering at first, to be sure, but…

_…nobody wants to end up alone._

"_G'night_," I murmured, my eyes closing and my mind finally giving into sleep's ecstasies.

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A/N: Please review! It'd be much appreciated! ;D


	5. Deceived by Desperation

A/N: Okay, so this story (_The Shadow of the Wind_, not _this_ story, lol) is driving me insane, and by accident I stumbled across an official soundtrack the author assigned to the book. Holy crap, it makes everything all the more intense. *shakes head* You know, as Daniel moves on to Bea in the book, Clara sort of just fades into the background, especially since by the end he even has no desire to even see her anymore, just because he's become so enraptured and in love with his own family. Heh. But there are a few songs on the soundtrack that are dedication with his admiration/adoration/love/obsession phase with Clara, and it just reminded me of how significant that relationship was to begin with. It is definitely helping me into writing this chapter, since recently I've just gotten sucked into making the tragic background love story of Julian & Penelope a happy ending. Heh. But I'm talking too much. Please read & review! =D

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**Ch.5—Deceived by Desperation**

I tried as best as I could to distract myself over the next two weeks in Adrian's absence. When the day of my music lesson finally came, I found myself more nervous than ever. It was true that I had been angry at him for all that had happened between Daniel and I, but I was more angry at myself than I was at Adrian. It just sort of all spilled out that night, and burst into this fiery fury in Neri's face.

I missed him so much over those last couple weeks. Nonetheless, it did not stop the music lesson from being the most monotonous, boring experience I had ever been through up until now. My music lessons with him were always so exciting, even when they didn't end in seduction, which they almost always had. Adrian had an allure that was hard to exist, especially in the darkness of my mind. His sexy, sultry voice always brought me out of the dull life I lived. Only one other person had been able to do that, and I had pushed him aside once Neri came along.

"You're doing very well, Clara," he said – voice normal, monotone, professional. "Why don't you try moving your hand just a little farther down to the left. My hands were always a little off on the piano keys.

I nodded, doing as I was told. _If I was so frustrated with how things were between us, why didn't I intervene in some way and try to fix things?_ I could have flirted and tried to tint the air with what he usually did, but there was no attempt on my end. I almost had no energy to even attempt something of that nature in my mind. Usually by this point he'd be straddled behind me on the piano bench and daring me to scream for him, only blocking it out by my struggles to find the right notes on the piano while my mind and my_ body_ were distracted.

"Uncle purchased some piano books for me," I said, continuing to play.

"Hmm?" he asked, distant and clearly thinking on other things. It was obvious to me that I was just another item on his to-do list for the day.

"At our last piano lesson—"

"Ah yes, I remember," he stood to his feet, and I felt a chill run through me. I didn't want him to leave. Even this uncomfortable silence was better than feeling – than having – nothing at all. But I still said nothing as he strode towards the door. "You've improved much, Cl—Miss Barcelo," he corrected quickly, professionally as he left in his haste.

"Maestro!" I turned in my seat and felt him pause. He stopped immediately, right in the doorway, and my heart skipped a beat. I cursed it for doing so. Neri had been so non-involved during the whole hour long lesson and now it almost seemed as though he had hope that I might be trying to fix what had happened to us. I knew he was hoping it was just a slip of the tongue, something we could get past with a simple apology on my end.

It was funny how I knew him so well after only months together. Every inch of him spoke of charm and a very well practiced sly demeanor. Somehow I had found the heart in his arrogant shell and been able to determine the shift between when we had sex and when we made love. I admired his dream to finish his symphony, though with how little the two of us actually spent in learning and teaching music, I wondered if it would ever get finished.

"My uncle has your check. He's in the kitchen."

He nodded, sighing a little, softly though as if he thought I wouldn't notice. I brought my feet around and sat relaxed on the bench once he had left, my hands resting in my lap. I hadn't breathed a second while he was still in the room, not since I'd called to him.

_"Good afternoon, Miss Barcelo. I'll return next week for our next lesson,"_ he had said. I had remarked nothing to that, only dipped my head into the space before me as if I could see through it to another world.

A knock came to the door and I knew it was Bernarda by the quiet mumblings I'd heard of her bumping into Neri on his way out. He'd dropped his check in the rush and she'd bent to pick it up. He'd apologized in his charming, genteel way and played the gentleman as to pick it up for her. She must have blushed from the flattering he suavely spoke to her afterwards, for the knock on the door paneling seemed to me strangled, as if something had weakened the firm fist in which she usually held.

"Bernarda," I said, standing and walking towards her.

"Miss Clara, I was just wondering…"

I shook my head at her, knowing she had come to console me over whatever had happened between myself and Adrian Neri. She clearly didn't know. No one did except my uncle and maybe Daniel. _Daniel_. I would not delve into that subject now. I could tell she was still trying to recover from Neri's effect and I didn't blame her. Normally I would be as well.

"I need you to do something for me," I told her, coming close enough so that I could whisper and she wouldn't have to strain to hear me. She tilted her head to the side, waiting for the message. "No one can know about this," I lowered my voice. She tensed, swallowed hard, and shifted uneasily. I could sense her hesitancy in doing what I asked and so reached my hand out the short distance between us and found the gentle curve of her shoulder, squeezing it tightly. "It's okay," I assured her.

"Whatever you need, Miss, I am here to assist you," she nodded, taking her role on as maid and therefore following in command of whatever I wished. My lips tilted upwards a little, but I knew she did not find my supposed secret a good idea to be passed on to her.

"Find out where Daniel Sempere will be," I lowered my voice further, directing my head to where my words would only be directly spoken into her ear. I could feel how her breath caught and how distressed she was becoming, but I had to press on. "Find his location for me, Bernarda. I need you to discover where he will be over the next couple weeks and at which times he will be there."

I moved my face away, giving her a moment to think and hoping the persuasion would not be a difficult one to achieve.

"Miss Clara, I don't know—"

I shook my head instantly at the approach of her independent self coming forth again. She was so concerned for me and for what I was doing. She was concerned in the matter at hand, just as she had been when I heard her advise Daniel in secret to not become so obsessed with me – that it was not healthy.

"Please just do this," I said. She nodded her head and backed away, moving into the house to complete the rest of her duties. On deportation she said but one thing.

_"As you wish, Miss Clara."_

* * *

"We've been here before," he said, closing the front door behind him. I'm sure my uncle has gone to bed. It's late. But I've asked Bernarda to stay the night, or at least until Neri returned. When she doubted, I told her I knew he'd return and after some excessive thought she agreed and went about repeating her daily duties. Adrian's return would serve to fulfill two purposes and for the heart he had laid out to me just prior to two weeks earlier, I knew he would come back per my request.

"I know," I said, not giving way to any of my hidden emotions. "Will you not come to me?" I asked when he did not move a foot closer than to turn towards me and look me directly in the face after shutting the door.

"It's late," he said. I nodded.

"It is. So, why won't you come in? The sitting room is empty and it has long desired your company. You've been gone from it for what? Two weeks? Simply ri—"

"Clara," he sighed, putting a hand to his forehead in the seemingly desirous need to cure its sudden ache. Clearly he was annoyed at my babbling. "Why am I here?" he asked. It did not take a scientist to find the underlining feelings of hurt and remorse amidst his simple question.

I took the initiative and walked towards him instead. I couldn't tell precisely where he was, but with hands outstretched, I found him. He would have backed away had I been able to see, but I was not and so he assisted me in finding his hands. I lifted my fingertips from the light encasing of his hands and rested them on the stiff features of his face.

"Because I love you," I said.

His eyes went wide. His jaw dropped, and all manner of speech seemed to be gone. It occurred to me right then that I didn't know what I was saying, that it was just a means to an end, but I knew the declaration had to have been conjured up from some part of me, and so it must have been true in a sense. In all reality I knew I was deceiving him and later I would punish myself for it. It was inevitable.

But I _had_ missed him, and when he weakened as I spoke those words, it was not only for my ulterior motive that I was grateful.

"Forgive me for my cruel words," my head hung low in the space between us. "I didn't mean them. They were spoken in anger and rage at myself, not at you." _Not completely untrue._

"You're forgiven," he choked up sobs, and I couldn't believe I had brought the no-doubt well known womanizer to tears. I smiled at him and when I brought my arms around his neck and slowly pulled him close, he eagerly took my form into his tender embrace. He did not say a word and his sobs ceased within moments, but soon he was kissing my neck and the flesh of my collarbone that shone bare with the cut of my dress.

"Meet me in my room?" I propositioned, not even hinting at seduction but willing to give in to it if it would encourage his renewed trust in me. I pulled back as I asked the question and the words were hardly out before he kissed me hard on the mouth. I treasured at the feel of his lips on mine, and wondered then if I were truly deceiving him or myself.

He nodded rapidly. "I love you, Clara," he breathed finally. I smiled and pressed my forehead against his, my body and mind relaxing in his momentary embrace. For that singular moment Daniel escaped my mind all together and I did not doubt the words I had said. I brought my lips to kiss him and he was resistant to pull away at all.

"I must speak with Bernarda quickly. Then, I will be with you," I assured him. He was barely breathing, trying to regain control of his joy I was sure and of what I had confessed. And if my mind had not been split in two once he scampered off again, I would have had that same struggle.

Bernarda was before me before I could cross the room. She did not apologize for nearly running me over. I knew she had the news I desired. It was the only reason I could gather for the shaking of her fingertips when she handed me a tiny slip of paper. My eyebrows furrowed, wondering why she would do such a thing to me when she knew I could not see. There was no secret code on the inside to help me decipher what it said.

"In the morning," she said.

_What?_

I grew angry. It was early in the day when I first requested it of her, and in all honesty I hadn't expected her to complete the task so quickly. She was efficient, but certainly not that efficient, especially when she didn't approve – when her moral compass reprimanded her for what she was instructed to do by her mistress of twenty-six. But my gratefulness for her speedy success was buried itself in the wake of her restraint.

"I don't understand," I managed, fighting the anger that tried to move past my lips and even form a grumble or growl in my throat.

"Be with Mr. Neri, Miss," she begged, and some of my anger faded away. I had just confessed my love to Adrian and hardly thought about it in the process. I had only been thinking about Daniel and what I needed to get him back. He had really been my only true friend throughout the years, despite the superficial girls that walked around me and guided me to ice-cream parlors and hat shops in town. I was determined to gain him back –_obsession be damned._ I knew there was only one way Daniel would return to me – if he and Neri made amends. And if Adrian knew I loved him, though the fact wavered in my mind from the moment it had been concocted over the course of the evening, there would be nothing he wouldn't do to keep my happiness.

I smiled softly. "In the morning then," I said. I could feel her relief as she stole the paper back away and I let her, knowing I couldn't do much with it anyways and that she had only let me grasp it for the secret knowledge of what it was.

I turned away and moved down the long twisting halls towards my room. A warm feeling exploded inside of me as I placed my hand against my closed bedroom door. I turned the knob and stepped inside, closing the door behind me. I heard his breath catch in his throat and the heat turned into butterflies in my stomach, desperately trying to find their way out. I climbed across the bed to find him and melted in his embrace as he made to press every inch of me to his lips. I could feel his love for me in every kiss he made, every declaration that he breathed. And the guilt that had been nonexistent to me burst into flames treacherously. I cried, and he kissed my tears away, not understanding their cause. For the first time, I realized that I had turned Adrian Neri into a lover of soul and not just of body, and that he had chosen my soul to embrace with his heart. He really did love me.

For that night I let myself believe I did too, and eventually the guilt slipped away.

* * *

A/N: Okay, so I know it's suspicious or maybe confusing, does she love him? Does she not? But these are mostly her thoughts, so she's trying to deal with it herself. So…it will be confirmed whether she does or not eventually. We are only half way through after all. ;p Thanks for reading! Please review! ;p


	6. Burnt Up

A/N: So, reviews are non-existent and yet for some bizarre reason I can't stop writing. XD Sucks for you! lololol. *clears throat* Review! =D

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**Ch.6—Burnt Up **

During the next month I managed to fall head over heels in love with Adrian Neri. The skepticism and clouded feelings I had experienced before dissolved into nothingness, and all I knew was the warmth of his breath against the back of my neck and the fluttering feeling I felt when he wrapped his arms around my waist. As promised, Bernarda came to me the next morning and delivered the requested information of Daniel Sempere's whereabouts. She told me in confidentiality as she had supposed I would want and I did. I thanked her for it, and also that she hadn't written it down or told anyone other than myself – it was kept between us and I thanked her for it.

Then, I forgot about it. I told myself I would go with Adrian and find Daniel one month later. We would sort everything out. I would get him to come back. And with Adrian's calmer demeanor, he wouldn't be pushed out the door at a moment's notice. But a month was a long time away, and in the midst of waiting for the life-changing day to come, I forgot about Daniel and about the whole plan all together. Adrian gave me every second of his free time and I came to the conclusion that I had truly been in love with him all along and had just been misguided before with the thoughts of how earlier shocking actions had affected the young, captivated Daniel Sempere.

It wasn't till the night just before now that I was reminded. I had been near oblivious to Bernarda's presence in the past couple weeks, so caught up was I with Neri's sole attention focused in on me. The two of us had been sitting on a couch that night in one of the far-off rooms of the house, when he suddenly chanced on needing to get something. I begged him to just ask Bernarda to get it for him, but he insisted on getting it himself. For a moment I thought it was an engagement ring he was searching for and I panicked.

I can't explain what exactly happened at that moment and why it lasted so short a time, but it wasn't something I ever wanted to experience again. I had decided for myself that I loved him, and I'd be lying if I didn't insist I was enjoying every moment we had spent together since my love confession four weeks earlier. Something inside me just jolted though, and it was only his curious question that roughly halted my thoughts.

"What's tomorrow?"

My eyebrows narrowed and I turned my head in his direction. I straightened the bent leg beneath me and rose to walk down the hall into the kitchen where it had gone.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, truly confused. For the life of me, I could _not_ remember what was supposed to take place the following day – _another lazy day with Adrian_, I could only think.

"There's a big red circle and a_ D_…" his eyes narrowed, truly confused. My heart leapt in my throat and I felt all my sanity was going to dissolve itself into that very moment. Horrified by what Adrian would think if he knew what I had been planning and merely forgot about – like he would believe that now – I moved past him and tore the calendar he stared at into the trash. It made a bit of a noise and amongst both that and Adrian's concerned questions, I heard Bernarda calling my name out in the foyer. I left Adrian where he stood and went to her, nearly running into things along the way. It was as if I had forgotten everything…

"Clara," she said quietly. My breathing was ragged and too quick. After some moments I was calmed by her calm, still voice. "Do you still want to—"

I swallowed hard and nodded. She squeezed my hands tight and then moved away. As soon as she had gone Neri was up behind me, gripping my shoulders in an effort to get me to speak.

"It's nothing," I said finally. He was about to speak when I turned around in an instant. "Let's spend the day in town tomorrow. If all goes well, we can have dinner?" I offered, biting my bottom lip. He sighed, not plummeting into the seduction my teeth to my bottom lip always offered as I had hoped.

"Why was it circled, Clara? You must have told someone to do it for you and…"

I placed my hand over his mouth to cease his talking. "It's nothing," I repeated quietly. "Don't worry." He pursed his lips but miraculously let it slide. Together we moved back into the far room from which we had come and lay cuddled against each other on the soft cushioned couch.

Adrian relaxed into me after at least ten minutes of tension, probably wondering about what lie I had been trying to cover up. I knew he wasn't going to pester me about it unless it turned into something he couldn't ignore. I hoped it wouldn't. We had progressed so well in our relationship for it to all end like this, but I should have kept my mind at least a little divided as it had been before. At least then I'd know when the day was approaching, and I could have countered my reaction better, covered it up in a more convincing way.

But no, my throat was as dry as the desert and all of my feelings and sorrows over Daniel Sempere came rushing back. They ate my insides with their ferocity. I shivered in Neri's grip. His gentle squeeze on my arm did nothing to reassure me. I was in over my head and I felt the exact same way when I woke up the next morning in his embrace on my bed. I pulled back the covers and changed into clothes for going into town. I was shaking and uneasy as I moved throughout the house to prepare myself for what would happen when we got into town…

An hour later he was up and ready without a care in the world or a notion that he was still bothered by what had happened the night before. I was glad he couldn't catch onto any of my unseen jitters. It would do him no good to be aware of the thoughts running through my mind. Everything I had planned seemed so ridiculous to me now, and yet I had never felt so determined to accomplish it.

Adrien stilled on the corner across from an old antique shop that he had briefly commented on in conversation. His breathing grew shallow and I felt a sweat develop on both our hands. From those signs alone I knew where we were.

"What is it?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Nothing," he insisted. "I just thought I saw…" he trailed off. My eyes squeezed shut. I knew all too well what he thought he saw. This was where Daniel Sempere was supposed to be…on this day, at this time, just passing the antique shop on the corner across from ours.

"Adrian," I pleaded gently, desiring nothing more at that moment than to know what it was that he saw, even if I already knew and only needed confirmation, simply for the reason that I could not see.

"It's Daniel," he said suddenly, more as if he was talking to himself out loud. I pursed my lips, feeling as Daniel crossed the street and stopped in front of us. The feel of him so close turned up my body temperature to a blazing heat and just as he was about to move around us, I held my hand out to stop him and he paused, looking on at us.

"Clara," he said, feigning surprise. I smiled a little.

"You knew it was me," I said. He nodded.

"I did."

"You remember—"

"Your Maestro. Yes, I do, now if you would excuse me—"

I reached for his arm again and he halted himself once more. It gave me an enormous amount of confidence that he would do anything I asked, even if it wasn't right away. I felt the hatred between the Adrian and Daniel and I wished to do anything I could to dissolve it. I wonder where their cordial polite demeanors had wandered off to from before, when all Adrian had done was try to please me. For what I did next guilt would consume me later.

"Would you get me a small ice-cream cone, Neri?" I asked sweetly. I felt him shudder and jolt a bit, releasing my hand. My behavior had changed from the moment I felt Daniel's presence, and now Adrian wasn't so blind to it. Nothing I was saying or doing was making sense. I always went in with him to make my choice. I never called him Neri anymore. Not once in the last month, there was no cause for last names. We were far too close.

But he nodded his head. "I shall return soon with your cold treat, love," he smirked, capturing my hand in his and pressing a kiss to the back of it. I knew he had done it to taunt Daniel and for all I tried to convince myself that he had nothing to be jealous of in the young boy, I could see – from an onlooker's standpoint – where it might seem otherwise, and how terribly awful it would be.

"Daniel!" I whispered harshly, pulling him past the corner of the building once he had confirmed Adrian was out of sight. He was very jittery as I pulled him close and he made no move to release my hand from the grasp in his shirt. His breathing was shallow, but this time I didn't notice so much. I was just relieved in the fact that he did not seem angry, only uncertain, and maybe scared. When we were at last in the far-off shadows of the building, he finally opened his mouth to speak.

"Clara, you can't be doing this. You bumped into me on _purpose_."

I smirked in the darkness. "You know me well, Daniel."

He sighed, obviously frustrated. "I told you I can't be around you. Why can't you just accept that?" he was searching into my face for some sort of sign as to my motives. I could feel it and it thrilled the chilling feeling running up my spine. "You've clearly replaced me," he spat, and my mouth dropped instantly at his insinuation. "I don't know why you can't _stick_ to your decisions."

"I would never," I began calmly, but he cut me off.

"Listen Clara," he said, his voice softening as he placed his hands on the curves of my shoulders and pressed into them gently. "It is not only our age difference and quite humiliating expression of feelings that drives me away from you."

My eyebrows furrowed. _There was something else?_

"You're in danger."

I tried to shrug off his statement with a little laughter, but found myself unable to. "Daniel…" I shook my head, trying to determine when he would release his sudden tone of seriousness into laughter. This new…shakiness in his hands worried me, though I played it off as if it hadn't.

"What are you talking about?" I asked finally, now annoyed that he had not expounded on his knowledge that clearly showed I was not the only one he had hidden it from. He moved closer to me and gripped my shoulders harder, his nails digging in. I felt as though he were going to cry at any moment.

"That night…"

I gulped, trying not to remember.

"I didn't just come because you hadn't shown up at my home for the party."

My forehead creased and added to the confusion my eyebrows and eyes clearly spoke on my face. It worried me what was unknown that he knew…that he had told no one else.

"I took my book back."

My lips parted.

"Daniel…"

"I took it back, because someone's been watching me – spying on me, and he wants the book, and he threatened to…to hurt you since he believed you to have it. I told him you didn't, but since you did…"

My eyes closed in agony, though I could not see. So, he had been trying to save my life from a very palpable threat, probably thought I was in danger when he heard…what he heard. I swallowed hard. _Just trying to save me…and this was where it had led._

"I have to go," he said suddenly, moving away. It chilled me to the bone to lose the warmth I had come to indulge in from him those few minutes we were alone. "_Stop_ trying to find me, Clara," he demanded. I made no move to accept the order but Neri turned the corner just as soon as Daniel had left, and I had to recover my face, dismissing my emotions and comprehensive mind for the time being. I thanked Neri for the ice-cream cone with which we made to share on the way home.

* * *

I sat alone in a crowded room of plants that led to the library – the _jungle_ we called it. Bernarda had just left. I'd wished her well and sunk into my thoughts. On the way home I'd told Adrian he had nothing to be jealous over, and that I didn't approve – hated actually – the way he treated poor Daniel when he wasn't even trying to partake in my life anymore. He apologized over and over and I forgave him on instant, partially because guilt was starting to affect me once more.

It worried me how shameful I felt when I told Adrian he had nothing to worry about. It was true that it'd be easy for anyone in my position to feel terrible remorse at the experience Daniel had gone through on my account, but to obsess over it for so long was probably unhealthy, even if it _did_ result in the end to a wonderful relationship. For some reason that made me cry. Tears slipped down my cheeks without my consent, and I was glad that I'd sent Adrian home early in the day.

I had told him I was tired – _exhausted_ – and it wasn't a lie that he was convinced by this time. He kissed me tenderly at the corner of my lips and I embraced him, my head tucking into the crevice of his neck. I so loved him and I didn't want him to go. But the façade I'd put up in order to tuck away my emotions was starting to break loose, and I wouldn't let myself unfold in front of Neri and inform him of what had happened that afternoon and how it had affected me. He would go after Daniel instantly, maybe with or without my pleas.

The whole afternoon I'd sat at the piano and tried to play the pieces my music teacher – my lover, my soul mate – had taught me, but for all our lessons I could not remember a thing. Bernarda had brought in snacks, but nothing cured the memory loss that had taken such a toll on me. I thanked her sweetly, but as soon as she left I retreated into the jungle and sat, hopelessly lost in my thoughts. Uncle was still gone on some _"absolutely necessary"_ business trip to gather some of the finest books and luxurious possessions in all of Barcelona. He would be back in three days from this night.

A knock at the front door startled me. When a second one followed, louder, I stood to my feet and slowly made my way into the foyer and to the mysterious stranger banging on our door so late at night. The lights were off throughout the house and it made no difference to me that they stayed that way, so I made no effort to flip the switch. The lighter blacks I might sense should the illumination fill the rooms seemed too great a challenge for all the mysteries spinning through my mind.

"Who's there?" I asked, clearing my throat and raising my voice just enough to pass through the thick carvings on the wide wooden door.

"Lain Coubert," the deep voice responded. At the moment I just figured it was some lost man needing the use of a telephone or perhaps some water to continue on his way. I was pretty sure, unless his appearance and need for it proved otherwise, that I wouldn't let him stay the night, even if he was in need. There were several hotels a few blocks away and I would be willing to give him the amount of money needed in order to his pay his way for one night's sleep.

"Sir, it's very late," I said, forcing any vulnerability out of my voice.

"I'll only be a minute," he promised, his words sounding lower than before. I gulped. "I'm a friend of Daniel's," he said, and that jolted my attention. _This older, almost scary sounding man could not possibly be a friend of Daniel Sempere_, I thought. Against my better judgment though, I opened the door a crack and felt, with a frightened chill running up my spine, how disfigured his hand felt as he took my hand and shook it. I opened the door wider and backed away slightly so as to let him in. He shut the door behind him, and I was grateful that it was not like in scary stories where he locked it behind him.

"It's dark," he commented. I nodded. "Perhaps it makes no difference to you," he observed, and that made me tense. He _knew_ I was blind, must have known beforehand. It would be hard to tell in the dark, even in the dim light the lamp outside our front door offered to him on greeting.

"What is it that you need?" I asked. He stepped towards me and it made me uneasy.

"I was hoping that we could discuss a book Daniel may have let you borrow?"

I swallowed hard. "I—I don't know what you—"

"_The Shadow of the Wind_, perhaps?"

I couldn't move. I didn't move. I had started to when he mentioned the book, but now I halted as if nailed to the floor. My conversation with Daniel from earlier in the day came rushing back to me and I'd never been as frightened as I was at that moment. I figured the unsettling man must be the man in Daniel's tale that had caught me off guard as a possible fable at first, mere fiction. Daniel was good at telling stories.

For the next half an hour, the man who'd called himself _Lain Coubert_ told me about the book, _The_ _Shadow of the Wind_, supposing I had never had it read to me, never heard its twisting, enrapturing, magnificent words. But I had. Daniel had read it to me many times, and forever the plot line and characters interwoven with each other would remain imprinted in my mind like a mesmerizing visual would be to a person with sight. I told him I didn't have the book, but he didn't believe me. His eyes raked over my form and he told me how deeply Daniel felt for me, how destroyed he was over everything that had happened, as if I didn't already know.

"It's late," I said again, now forty-five minutes later.

"Yes, Miss Barcelo, it is late," he responded, standing to his feet and heading towards the door. "Forgive the late hour, and do inform me if you discover the book," he tipped his hat towards my figure, opening the front door of his own accord. "Daniel will know how to find me."

I swallowed hard, locking the door behind him and counting up to five minutes before rising from my sunken position on the floor against its closed guard. I was breathing too fast, was too scared over what would probably just seem a normal conversation to anyone else, dismissing the late hour. But Daniel's words had stuck in my mind and I worried for my safety, and more than that, of Daniel's. If I hadn't thought the situation was complicated enough with all the powerful feelings darting in and out amongst the three of us from the very beginning, now it was life-threatening.

A demanding, continuous pounding was heard on the front door just feet away from me not more than ten minutes following my first recovery. I was so hesitant, and again frozen to the floor. My breathing, which had calmed down a great degree since the occurrence with _'Lain Coubert'_ rose to an unnatural speed and I hoped, with nothing to grasp around me and no one else in the house, that I would not pass out and injure myself in some way.

"Clara!" the pounding continued, and I gasped, recognizing the voice immediately. I walked with haste to the door, unlocked it, and let the soaked boy fall into the dry, warm atmosphere of the empty house. For the first time I realized it was pouring rain. I could smell the fresh scent as it drifted into the main room, and the hard crack of thunder made me jump as I closed the door and turned back to where Daniel stood in the middle of the room.

I shuddered, hearing his quiet, short breaths rushing into my ears at full speed. He was shivering. I could hear the chattering of his teeth, but still he walked towards me, seemingly oblivious to his own cold, wet state.

"He's gone," I said, so quiet I was afraid he hadn't heard me at all. Then I felt his hands touching my face and patting along my arms, maybe testing if I were real.

"Are you okay?" he choked.

A gasp lost itself in my throat. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't feel, was completely numb to the tender, damp touch that had sent my soul soaring. I hated myself for feeling and for being so afraid. I remembered nothing further until morning.

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A/N: You like? I hope so. Both scenes were way longer than I intended. XD Ah well, got swept up I guess, lol. Review! =D


	7. Lest We Forget

A/N: Next chapter. Please review. =)

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**Ch.7—Lest We Forget**

I felt the sun as it warmed and stretched across my face the next morning. It felt early to me somehow, though the warmth around me made me think it could be afternoon. I yawned, realizing I was in my bed and that the sheets were draped high over my chest. It took me awhile to remember all that had happened the night before but then it all came flooding back like a horrific nightmare.

I sat up slowly, feeling around for the edge of the bed and where the headboard of the bed lie. I found its curved design and leaned against it. Suddenly, as if it had not been obvious already, I felt another presence in the room, on the other side.

"Daniel?" I asked hesitantly. _Instinct_.

I cannot explain why of all people his name should be the one to pass my lips. Perhaps it was because he was the last person I remembered being with the night before, but his distance since 'the incident' should have made me think he would leave as soon as possible. It would have been suitable for him to leave as soon as he had gotten me to bed; I'm sure I was in need of assistance with the process. For some bizarre reason though, he had stayed. Or at least that was the certainty I felt in those few moments after I'd called out to him.

The thought occurred to me then, that maybe it was Neri sitting on the other side of the room. I felt guilt consume me. I would not know how to explain such a situation to Adrian. He would be furious that Daniel was involved, but probably even more so that my safety was at risk. _Maybe he would not be too distressed over Daniel's presence_, I thought.

I swallowed hard, worried even more so in the silence that insisted on keeping its place known. Relief hit me though when I heard a soft sigh across the room.

"Daniel," I said in relief.

The chair he must have been sitting on screeched a little as he rose to his feet. It reminded me of when Neri's chair had screeched when he had tried to seduce me, or perhaps when he had been ignorant of any relationship than what was professional between us. I couldn't remember at which he had been so dramatic, so insistent on what he wanted to do. I concluded it must've been the former. Being blasé wasn't his thing and he wouldn't screech the chair simply to prove the point of how unaffected he was by my presence. That would have defeated the purpose.

"How are you feeling?" I heard Daniel ask as he neared me. My heart rate sped up and I cursed myself for it. I would not yet allow myself to feel what I knew was developing. I wanted to know when I had become so weak, how I had let it sneak up on me and then how I managed to ignore it as I aged and grew all the more confident because of how people treated me for all the beauty and wealth I held in the palm of my hand.

"All right," I responded, resting my head back on the board behind me. His hand moved to the small end table beside my bed and picked up a cool glass of water that I soon felt brush past my fingertips. I took it gratefully and sipped at it over the next few minutes.

"Thank-you, Daniel."

"You're welcome," he said simply.

"Daniel…" I began, sighing as if the very words I contemplated exhausted me severely. "Why did you stay?" I asked. I wanted to know. Perhaps I hoped that he'd actually left during the night and only returned because he was a gentleman who didn't want me to wake up alone. But from the uneasiness I felt as he shifted in the chair he had brought over from the window, I knew that was not the case.

"You were in danger," he said, his voice lowering.

"…t-the man…" I swallowed hard, stuttering and hating myself for it, "he was gone."

I knew he was nodding his head, accepting what I said. "I know," he said. I could feel the terror that laced every word. When his voice lowered I became almost as afraid as he was.

"Clara," he said suddenly, taking charge and dismissing my question. "Against my better judgment, I'm going to tell you why that man is such a threat. He is the same man that caused me to come here over a month ago and take back 'The Shadow of the Wind'."

I tensed in the bed. "Must we speak of this here?" I asked.

"I cannot go another moment without telling you, not even to another room."

"All right," I finally agreed. It was hard for me to say no to Daniel Sempere; this time it was even harder because he had only my safety in mind.

"He thinks you have the book, or at the very least that Neri has it."

My eyebrows narrowed and immediately I felt very overprotective of Adrian. I knew there was anger between the two of them, but… _to put his life at risk?_ Certainly he would not have done such a horrid thing. I cleared the thought from my mind quickly though, eager to get to the heart of the matter. I was very much afraid Daniel would back out of telling me once again and I could not bear to be in the dark over this secret much longer.

"That man wants all of the works of Julian Carax. He wants to burn them, and he's willing to pay whatever price to do so. I think I might be one of the last ones to own one of these books. That may be why he is so greedy."

I swallowed hard, not speaking or moving at all as I continued to listen to him intently.

"He threatened to harm you the night of my birthday, Clara. I'm afraid of what he might do. I needed to make you safe. That is why I took back the book and have kept my distance. Despite being scarred from what I saw…" he sighed, trailing off, seeming to remember the terrible night in its most detailed form. Guilt consumed me again and a small, hopefully invisible, tear creeped out of my eye, thankfully dissolving at the top of my cheek.

"I could never hate you, Clara. Not even for that. I was worried for you."

"Daniel—" I said, almost breathlessly.

"No, don't speak," he commanded. My lips silently came back together. "Bernarda will be here soon, as will Neri, I'm sure. You must not make to contact me again." He stood to his feet. "It is for your own good."

If my lips had not been sealed, I may have said something rash or begun to bawl in front of him. So very suddenly, and over the last month, I realized he had become more mature than I could ever be, and that finding the true humanity and vulnerability in myself, I had become so very immature. It was not fair to Daniel, and to Neri especially.

The details of what had happened that fateful night sent my mind whirling, but I could not verbalize what I wanted to say. I knew Daniel would not let me even if he knew my precise thoughts. A chill flooded through me when I felt him raise my hand to his lips and kiss it tenderly, barely a brush as if he was afraid what dialogue or actions would follow if he held his affection any longer than half a second. I wanted him to declare his love for me again, but it never came.

"I cannot let that book be burned, you must understand. But your safety remains my top priority. You must promise me you will not seek me out, not for anything. If something is life shattering it can be passed on through my father."

I nodded subtly, accepting what I couldn't control and would never want to carry out.

"I will distract this madman at all costs," his voice faded, and I knew he wanted to tell me something he thought I could not handle. He, the sixteen year old, thought I could not handle something involving my own danger. "Hopefully he will just go away and accept the need I have to keep the book," he sighed, and I knew he was so terribly trying to convince himself. _Empty promises._

"Will you come back to me, Daniel?" I found myself asking before I could stop. "When all this is over?" My fingers clenched in the sheets, saddened when he lowered my hand back to where they had been resting on legs. His hand stayed there a moment too long, I'm sure he would think.

"No," he said. I could feel the pain in his voice that he would not let me see.

My lips parted. I was so terribly distraught by what he sought to convince himself of. "Stay with me," I said, again before I could even stop and think, though I feel it would not have been much different then.

"No," he said, with more certainty this time. It was almost as if he had practiced it endlessly during the last month. Every time he said the word it left no room for questions. "Bernarda will be here soon," he said a moment later, switching his voice to a light, casual tone.

I sighed and nodded, but before I could say anything more his presence left the room and I heard the front door open and close at the end of the hall. I cried when he left.

* * *

It was hazy that afternoon how I managed to fall asleep again. I only knew I was not awake when Bernarda came in to start working around in the house. I did not doubt that I had cried myself to sleep in Daniel's absence. _Why couldn't he just stay_, I asked myself. Though the more important thought was _why did I need him to stay? _Everything was so ridiculous, and I refused to let myself think in terms of something more than friends with Daniel Sempere.

I had Neri now. It was him who was there beside me when I woke up for the second time that day. He had brought honey tea and jam on bread for me. I smiled at the gentlemanly ways he treated me. When he pressed his lips to my forehead I felt tingles shoot through me to every fiber of my being. I would not know a love greater than this, I knew.

"Adrian," I said warmly, reaching out my hand so as to touch his face, so I could confirm my suspicions. I felt the smile on his face and even the slight hitch in his breath when I traced the lines of his face. "I have missed you," I sighed, meaning every word.

"How did you know it was me?" he asked quietly.

"Do you think I'd let anyone else kiss me?" I smirked, ignoring the fact that there was one another individual I had been dying to allow that privilege to.

"It was a peck on your forehead, Clara," he said in disbelief, "I should think you would allow even your Uncle that joy." My smile spread so as even my teeth shown admiration for him.

"You're right of course," I admitted, my hand slipping down to the base of his neck and drifting down the front of his shirt until it was resting in my lap again.

"Did you sleep well?" he asked, and I nodded. "How was your night?"

"It was fine," I lied. As much as it terrified me, I was starting to accept the inevitable lack of Daniel Sempere in my life. It would do no one any good for Adrian to know what happened the night before, and what still lingered with me, regardless of my responses to Daniel's worried pleas.

I almost told him that the night was spent listening to Daniel read to me. So often I had said that over the last five years. It had almost become a ritual, one I had not been ready to give up. After no returned calls, no missed messages, I should have just let Daniel go on and we could both lead our separate lives. But I had to dig deeper and hear from Daniel's own mouth that he did not and would not hate me forever for what I had done and what he had seen. I should not have had such persistence. Now I was in a hole I did not know how to dig out of.

"What did you do?" he began again, stroking my hair and placing the strands drifting over my eyes to behind my ears. He leaned forward then, probably expecting me to answer as he began to move his lips down the side of my neck. I sighed contently, my hands having raised up to his head with my fingers twisting in his hair.

"Nothing much," I murmured, fully aware that he had peeled back the sheets and was now climbing into bed beside me. "What time is it?" I asked, gasping as he nipped at the sensitive spots lined down my chest and along my collar bone to my shoulder. When he licked behind my ear I nearly lost control.

"Half past eleven, shall we eat?" he asked, his words half lost in the skin of my body. With a steady move of his large, warm hand he pulled me closer to him. I chuckled lightly at his ridiculous question.

"Aren't you eating me already?" I asked playfully. I felt him smirk against me as he made his way back up to my throat and inched his lips closer to my face.

"Point taken."

I sighed contently into his mouth as he kissed me with his lips. It was deliciously satisfying and I would've done anything to stay in his arms forever, even dispose of my little fetish with Daniel if I could. I so loved this man. I could not contain it. And for both our sakes, and for actually thinking this time, though perhaps it was not with the best or truest of intentions, I made a bold move, one I would always be indebted to him for accepting later on into the future.

"Marry me," I said, my head sinking into the crook of his neck. He stilled instantly and tensed to a degree I'd never felt from him. When he didn't speak afterwards, I just about thought I had imagined the whole scene unfolding before me.

"Say something," I said, hoping his response would jog my memory of what I'd said, what I'd implied and what would happen in the aftermath of it.

"I…" he choked, untangling himself from around me and leaning against the headboard of the bed beside me. "Where is this coming from, Clara?" he asked suddenly.

"From nowhere," I said simply, contently, reaching out for his hand and curling my fingers around his. "I love you, Adrian. I don't want to hide it anymore."

"Clara…" he sighed, seeming far too overwhelmed and I almost thought he was going to reject me. "We've only know each other for a little over five months, and been…together for less than that."

"I know," I said, unconvinced of his objections. He was silent for another long while, clearly not having a single other defense against the idea.

"And Daniel?" he asked suddenly. A thread of panic shot through me, but I was sure it came and went quick as lightning across my face. It was not only that I knew I'd have to lie to him in order to have him accept me as his wife so soon, but also because I was apparently not as discreet in my confused, escalating feelings for him.

"He's a _boy_," I said, emphasizing the very word he'd used from the beginning. "And I love you, not him." He smiled when he heard me state those facts, and I ignored the throbbing in my heart that told me I was only fooling myself by trying to get out of the dark pit I'd willingly jumped into. I had only lied a little though, and I was not even completely sure I had lied. Surely it was not something to worry about.

Neri leaned forward and kissed my lips sweetly, leaning his forehead against my own when we parted. "The _man_ is supposed to do the proposing, I believe," he whispered playfully, groaning a little when my hand came around to play in his hair and smooth down his back beneath his shirt.

I smiled, biting my lip, enticed by the words he had never meant to be sultry and seductive. "I think I'm quite an exception to the rule, don't you think?" I asked, teasing his length by rubbing against him in an effort to get closer. He gripped my waist and pulled me on top of him.

"You are quite exceptional, Clara Barcelo. Heaven and Earth couldn't stop me from marrying your beautiful soul."

I smiled and slid down onto his now quite prominent erection. He growled in my ear and I mumbled a _thank-you_ before I lost myself in the bliss. Daniel was the farthest thing from my mind and for all intents and purposes I prayed it would stay that way. Things were as they should be. I soon would be married, and sooner than later Daniel would surely have a beautiful young girl beside him and dedicated to him forever. I did not think on that inevitable fate for very long though. It made me burn with jealousy.

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A/N: Yay!!! *cheers* Isn't this exciting?!?! Lol. I know, it is only me who is enjoying this fic. XD Ha. Oh well. Hopefully TD will be updated soon. ;p Review!


	8. Just Let Go

A/N: Only a couple more chapters to go. I hope you're enjoying this, you readers…who hopefully are not imaginary. XD Review if you read this! Please!! Oh, and my GG muse has returned with great fervor, but I am still quite inspired to write my tSotW fics. *nods* So worry not for that…at least not for the ones I've started. ;p Review! =D

*I own nothing.

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**Ch.8—Just Let Go**

I was told later that the wedding was beautiful. I wish I could have seen it. It felt like I had invited the entire city to Adrian's and my wedding. I wouldn't be surprised if they all had come. It had been two long years before I married Neri, and I'm sure my uncle and Adrian weren't the only ones mystified by the _very_ extended engagement. Neither objected though. I think one or both of them suspected I was pregnant with Neri's child. I wouldn't have doubted it, but as far as I was aware, that was not the case.

My uncle guided me down the aisle I felt had rose petals decorating it. I heard the gasps when I walked down the aisle. I must have looked beautiful. Maybe it was just the "bridal glow" that I've heard so much about. I must have had it. My uncle's lips were so soft against my cheek when he finally guided me to Adrian. Adrian's hands were warm against my frigid ones. He quickly warmed them up. I didn't know how I had gotten so cold. It certainly was not from jitters. I had been beyond certain I was going to marry Neri from the day I proposed. I hadn't gotten cold feet once. I knew this was what I wanted, what I was supposed to do.

A smile lit my face as he said his vows. I said mine and I could feel his smile against my lips as he kissed me and the priest pronounced us husband and wife. _A wife._ That's what I was. It made me bubble up with joy and love for that wonderful man. I knew it must have showed on my face. It seemed everyone commented on my "bridal glow". It helped the guilt within me dim. The guilt I had felt all day. I had betrayed Neri. I should have let the day belong to him, to him and me, all of it. But I found my mind constantly distracted by thoughts of Daniel. _Had he come?_ I was desperate to know, and I knew I'd be heartbroken if he hadn't. But I also knew I wouldn't have the faintest idea what to say if he had.

I had stayed away like he'd asked. _I would do anything for that boy now_. I didn't understand why there had been some things I'd denied him before. Now everything seemed so perfectly clear_. I was in love with Daniel Sempere._ I had thought too much about it after that night when he walked in on my rough sex act with Adrian. I could have stayed away, just let him move on and find some girl his own age. I was sure he had done so, or would do so soon. But I couldn't understand. I felt so awful, and it made my heart concoct _'what if'_ scenarios. I wished I had never dug so deep and been so curious.

I had hoped two years would cure it, but it only seemed to make things worse. _'Out of sight, out of mind'_ they always say, but as deeply as I loved Adrian Neri, Daniel was always two beats away in my heart. Trying to discover the truth and soothe his soul had made me think deeper about who he was and how he treated me and I fell into the same trap he'd unknowingly gone into that first day in Plaza Real under the morning sun with _The Shadow of the Wind_ wrapped up in his arms. It felt so wrong loving a sixteen – now eighteen – year old, but I couldn't help myself. And that was why I had to marry Adrian Neri. It wasn't fair to him that I had split my heart in two and was marrying the smaller half, but Daniel and I would be so unworkable, simply for the age. Perhaps he wasn't really in love with me and it was just an infatuation from that of an incredible teenage boy.

Despite all the facts and doubts and demons that refused to leave me alone and threatened to make me see just so they could stare me in the eyes and curse me endlessly, I could not prevent the desperation that threaded through my voice when Mr. Sempere approached me in congratulations.

"Mr. Sempere! Thank-you for coming," I smiled brightly as he shook his head, loosening his fervor as the joy on my face grew brighter.

"Clara, what a beautiful ceremony it was. Congratulations."

His grasp was tender. It reminded me of Daniel's.

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself." I continued to smile.

"It is quite something to see you married off. I cannot believe it took so long."

I blushed despite myself, though the compliment was not new. For the last ten years I had been told it, practically in my sleep. It made me wonder if the heat filling my cheeks was real or just practiced. I made to always be polite in front of people, though the feisty side of me certainly came out with Neri in bed, and with Daniel when he read the most scandalous portions of Julian Carax's novel.

"Thank-you, Sir," I said meekly, quieter. His grip loosened on my hand and I could feel his body turning away, probably with one last bid farewell. I panicked. "H-How is—?" I stumbled through my words.

"He's fine, Clara."

I frowned instantly. Somehow in that brief moment it had not occurred to me to ask if Daniel had come. Maybe in my subconscious I knew that my hopes could not possibly be reality. I had inquired of him simply. If I could not have him near me once more, then at least I could know he had moved on in life and all that was left was for me to move on as well.

"H-He is not…" my hand dropped to my side. I could not hold up the façade any longer when all my hopes had been thrown to the ground and trampled on in just a few words, and so quickly.

"Miss B—" he cleared his throat, bringing his hands up to my lower arms and gripping tightly. "Mrs. _Neri_," he emphasized, and in that moment I knew he knew I loved his son. I also knew he would not tell a soul, not even Daniel. "He could _not_ come, Clara."

I blinked, my white eyes rolling a bit from side to side. I so desperately wanted to see into the eyes of Mr. Sempere. I knew he was staring at me straight on, as if I was not blind at all. I knew he was trying to make me understand with his gaze that nothing could ever happen and that I had to move on with my life internally as well as externally, so Daniel could move on as well. But I could not understand or force myself to move in that direction. I was only filled with a hauntingly desirable joy at the knowledge that Daniel had not gotten over me. He was eighteen now, and two years had done nothing for him either. He had not met anyone else. He had not stopped thinking of me, not even with the distance. It made my heart nearly stop.

"My love…" I felt a breath brush against the curve of my neck and a kiss press to my shoulder. Neri. His hand wrapped around my waist and Mr. Sempere's hands dropped from my arms. He took a step back and forced happiness back into his voice.

"Congratulations, to both of you."

Neri's head came up for a moment and he grinned wildly. "Thank-you, Mr. Sempere. I'm very sorry Daniel could not make it. Please send my thanks to him as well."

"I will," he said a little too quickly. I forced a small smile onto my face as he left and then I turned my attention to Neri, drowning out my thoughts of Daniel with my lips on his and my heart sinking into his as I embraced him and smelled his scent.

"I love you," I sighed into him. I felt him smile into my neck and exhale contently.

"Not nearly enough," he chuckled. I smirked as he pulled away, but it dimmed when he turned away and dragged me back through the crowd of guests, heading for the champagne and frosted cake. I hated how true his words were.

* * *

"Mrs. Neri," he cleared his throat.

My eyes narrowed and I pushed open the door wider, so I could step in. I had come willingly, _more_ than willingly, and I hadn't wanted to think about my new married status at all. I didn't want to think about Adrian or anything that wasn't Daniel Sempere. I buried my guilt into the depths of my soul until I couldn't feel it anymore.

When Bernarda had called just as I was wrapped up in Neri's arms with an urgent request to talk to me, I knew immediately what it was about. Her voice was shaky on the phone, so much so that I took the call in the next room over. I could tell she was nervous. Her morals were shook to the ground and I had to remind myself to breathe. Against her better will and in a savage secrecy she made me swear to, she informed me that Daniel Sempere wanted to meet with me.

Sweat appeared in tiny beads on my forehead as I made to answer her. Guilt was threatening to slaughter me, but there was nothing more I wanted at that moment than to meet with Daniel on my wedding night. It was the best gift I could have ever asked for, even better than his appearance at the wedding itself. So, when I returned to Neri, I made the most convincing argument I could, without mentioning Daniel in the least. He complained a little that my old maid was tearing his young bride away from him on his wedding night. I smiled affectionately, apologetically at him and swept him up in one soaring kiss before I followed the sound of the knock on the front door out the room. I heard him sigh as I left, but from the second Bernarda appeared on the other side of the door and took my hand, to when I returned later that night I felt nothing, only excitement for reuniting with Daniel. The guilt was gone.

"I apologize for tearing you away from your wedding bed, Clara. I know it is very ungentlemanly of me to do so. I hope you will understand my need to bring you here. It was so very foolish and immature of me to refuse to attend your wedding," he said, closing the door behind me.

_…because of how I still feel about you_, I finished for him silently.

"It's empty," I commented on the silence of the house. "Is your father sleeping?" I asked, suddenly alarmed. I didn't know what I possibly thought Daniel could have called me there for, but the idea of a tryst did occur to me. If I had been feeling guilty, I would have resisted coming all together. But Bernarda was gone now and Neri was miles away. It was like a secluded island and I wanted no one to interrupt us, no matter what activities we'd participate in.

"He…left on a business trip to Paris," he said, his voice hesitant. I could almost feel his nervous breaths on my neck. "It's why he left so early from your wedding, don't you remember?"

I blinked and then sighed as the memory returned to me.

"Yes," I nodded, offering up a small smile. "I remember." I turned to find a seat I was sure would occupy the foyer somewhere, but could find nothing. He must have felt my frustration for in under a minute he had grasped my arm gently, as always, and led me to another room. He found me a comfortable chair and sat across from me.

"What is it you asked me here for, Daniel?" I asked, adjusting myself and placing my hands folded in my lap. The dress I wore did not allow for curves to be shown, and I wished it did. I could feel Daniel's eyes hesitantly gazing my face and the neck that he had seemed drawn to since the beginning. I wished he would look elsewhere as well. Everything I wished that night was unacceptable, forbidden and terribly criminal, but in a single moment I had wished away all propriety and morale. I would not feel guilty till the morning.

He cleared his throat. "I've decided to grant your request."

My eyes blinked and my heart beat rapidly against my chest. I swore he could hear it. For a moment I believed he had actually read my mind and my body pulsed with excitement and anxiousness.

"Wha—?" I asked, confused, unable to even finish that single word.

"To read to you," he said. I exhaled, a little disappointed by the information. Though, I should have known better. Daniel was a man of morale. He always did what was right. He would not steal me away and make love to a married woman, especially on the night of her wedding. The fact that he was in love with her would not matter. He would always do the right thing.

Reading was the second best thing though, I decided. I had been begging him to stay and to read to me since the whole incident happened. He had refused me every time, and it sounded instinctual after awhile, like the request was preposterous. Now that he had decided to take back his refusal I knew this was really the end. He was saying good-bye_,_ the same way he had said hello.

"All right," I said, drawing my hands back to the arms of the chair. "What will you read to me?" I asked. I felt the smile that crept onto his face.

"_The Red House_," he said. I gasped. It was the only other story I had read to me by Julian Carax. It had been allowed to me only for as long as it took to read and then was stolen back away by one of my ancient professors. It was _my "Shadow of the Wind"._

"Daniel—"

"Shh," he silenced me with the hush of his voice and a single instant of his forefinger pressed to my lips. I swallowed hard and leaned back in my seat. He settled back into his as well and pulled the book out from somewhere beside him. When he opened it, I could smell the fresh scent of the long abandoned book. I wondered then if somehow he had tracked the professor down and bartered for the book. It would be too much for me to handle, I gathered. Daniel was not one of the richest men in Barcelona. It would have cost him a lot for that book the professor held so dearly.

Daniel read to me for the next hour and a half and took me back on the journey through The Red House. I was thrilled by it all, and his smooth, mysterious voice made it all the more magical. I had nearly forgotten how very mesmerizing Daniel's reading was to me. I was lost in his voice and in the story. It felt as if he was talking directly to me, telling me his story instead of reading the fiction of a ghost author.

"It's late," he said. There had been a long silence and I prayed it was for dramatic effect and not for the fact that he was stopping. I should have known better. "Come Clara," he said, standing to his feet and brushing his fingertips against mine so that I would grasp his hand. "Bernarda is not far away. We will summon her and take you home." He cracked a grin, but I could not find the humor in the new situation.

We made it to the foyer and I was thoroughly depressed. _I was twenty-eight and married. It shouldn't matter what time it is. I would not let myself be ordered around by an eighteen-year-old!_ The thoughts went in one ear and out the other. Guilt gurgled up in me again and I knew he was right, that I had to leave, even if I didn't want to.

I traced my hand from his arm to his face as he held me steady with his hand on my elbow. Then my other hand came around and smoothed over his face as well. It was so very soothing to me to feel him under my fingers. His face was warm and he breathed steadily, though it seemed to increase, if only in my imagination. He made no effort to stop me, but finally I dropped my hands to my side.

"Thank-you for this, Daniel," I forced a small smile, as much happiness as I could gather. I knew this was good-bye. "It was the best present I could have ever asked for. You've been so very mature through all of this." I bit my lip softly. He exhaled a little and then suddenly moved away.

"Daniel?" I asked, confused. I could no longer sense him in the room.

"Here," he said, breathing heavily when he returned. He placed a square object in my hands and instantly I knew it was the book. I wanted to ask him how he had gotten the book, but I left it a mystery in my mind. The last thing the night should've ended on was an interrogation on purchases.

"You can have…" he cleared his throat, "Neri read it to you," he said. My eyes closed in agony. I had forgotten about _him_ again. I did not think he'd take well to know that I'd spent almost two hours of our wedding night at the home of Daniel Sempere, regardless of their supposed reconciliation.

"Thank-you," I breathed, stepping closer to him. I heard his gulp and laid my hand on his face again. He exhaled, completely intoxicated by my touch and for once I felt I was in control over our relationship again. I wasn't subject to him because of what I may or may not have felt. It had been a long time since that had happened, two years ago to be exact.

Without hardly thinking, I closed the final distance between us and kissed his lips. Perhaps he thought it was a short farewell kiss, but once he finally let me touch him in the intimacy of that kiss, I felt myself unraveling. Steadily the kiss grew more intense, more passionate, and I felt I had finally freed myself from the cage I'd been trapped in since that horrendous night two years prior. When he responded, regardless of how little, I just about burst into his hands. When I felt his hands clenching on my waist my excitement escalated and my first assumptions of the night returned with great fervor. It was only when I realized Daniel had pushed me away, and that that was why he had grasped my waist, that disappointment and hurt filled me again.

"Go home," he said firmly.

"Danie—" I reached out for him, but he backed away.

"Go," he choked. I knew immediately how guilty he felt. I felt horrible for taking advantage of his poor eighteen-year-old soul. What had I done to him? He had never had hope of being with me and now that I decided I shared his intense feelings, I had married another man – one he loathed, or at least used to. For my own part, I did not feel guilty or ashamed of my actions in any manner that did not exclusively include Daniel.

The book had dropped down to the ground, and I knew if the circumstances had been any different he would have picked it up for me. But I was left to fend for myself. He was probably still in too much shock and no doubt would agonize over the experience for days. _I hated myself_. But I still clutched at the book and held it to my bosom, finding my way to the door and exiting the premises of the Sempere's. Bernarda was waiting for me at the doorstep. I felt guilt arise in me then. As she led me down the steps I knew she could feel it. She said nothing though, _God bless her tender soul_. Without saying a word she took the book from me and wrote something in it before giving it back. I knew it would not give away my secret, but only further help preserve it.

"My love!" Neri announced on hearing the door shut behind me. He didn't notice the book in my hand or the subtle forlorn look on my face. His lips were on my neck and in my hair instantly and he was already untying my dress and dismissing it as it fell to the floor. My arms threw themselves tight around his neck and I cried into him softly.

That night I swore to myself I would wash away all feelings for Daniel Sempere in the wild caresses Adrian Neri offered. He was my husband after all, and I loved him.

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A/N: Yay! *claps* I hope you loved it! Please review! ;p I was gonna post it before class, but I figured it wasn't necessary since no one's reading this anyways. XD WWF should be updated soon, if you're reading that/read that. I've decided to extend that to a 2-part because of some different POVs I've encountered ;p Thanks again for reading! =D


	9. Sharing of Secrets

A/N: This chapter will be extremely short. I hope you enjoy it though. There's only one chapter left, and it should be up within the next week. Enjoy and please review! ;p

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**Ch.9—Sharing of Secrets**

If you asked me, to this day I cannot remember where we spent our honeymoon. I remember the warm, balmy breeze that flew through my hair and ran across my face. I remember the sweet kisses Neri pressed to my neck, and when we were in a secluded place, every inch of my body. I remember the feel of silk settling on me from the sheets of our bed to the smoothly cut dresses I wore about town. I recall very vividly how people commented, despite how my blind appearance looked, how we were such a beautiful couple. None of this came so clearly though until after the night three days into our honeymoon when I traveled to visit Bernarda and reveal to her my secret.

It was raining that night I remember. It took awhile to get a cab, but somehow in the small space of an hour, I made it to the quiet inn Bernarda was staying at for the simple fact of Adrian and I ever needing something on our honeymoon. She was always a faithful housekeeper, and my uncle was a dear for letting her escort us, so to speak, instead of spending the week tending to the gardens or our dusty attic at the Plaza Real.

"Come in, Miss Clara," she said, pulling me into her room with a small tug of my hand. I guessed she must have seen me coming from her window, because I didn't so much as knock before the door flung open.

"You sound anxious," I said to her, sitting on the chair she had led me to.

"Nonsense," she said cheerily. I could hear her pouring some sort of liquid into a china glass. I guessed it was tea. She handed a small cup to me and I drank it hesitantly, wary of the hot steam rising from the drink. "I just wanted you to get out of the rain," she continued, softer this time. "It's so dreadful once you get caught up in that. You'd have a cold for weeks, and that would do no good for your honeymoon."

I smiled meekly.

"Dear…" she said after the tea had cooled and I'd made myself comfortable in the chair. I felt her warm hand on the curve of my knee. "I know why you've come." I shuddered. I did not doubt in the least that she knew why I was there. I didn't waste my breath in prodding answers out of her. The fact that she'd written a note addressed to me from herself in Daniel's book spoke volumes of what she knew and how she was accustomed with dealing with such a situation.

Her hand slipped away towards her own body, but I still felt the sensation and it made me very wary. She sighed quietly and something inside me grew very aware. I tensed immediately, though from her lack of comment I guessed she could not see it. It would not surprise me however if she could and just chose to seal her lips.

"When I was twenty-three," she began again, sounding as if she had trailed off to some distant land, "I met a young man who had just turned seventeen." I swallowed hard, wondering where this was going. "My father hired him to assist me in my housework since the load was becoming overwhelming and every member of our family was juggling two or more jobs. The boy refused to take any money however, only requested to be able to stay with us since we were without a home. My father was quite relieved by this actually, because we did not have much money to spare."

"What was his name?" I asked tentatively. There was a thought in the back of my mind that I should probably have asked Bernarda how this story related to myself, since the outside world had seen nothing but my love for Neri and this visit could very qualify as just a genuine get-together. But the assumptions between us were very much correct, and the clarifications between subjects did not need to be spoken aloud.

"Immanuel," she said, a slight lilt of admiration to her voice. I smiled softly.

"Go on," I murmured gently, wondering only afterwards if she had heard me or just felt so inspired to continue in her tale.

"We worked together in everything. He was quite brilliant, and though he did not have the means to afford it, he dreamed of going on to law school and becoming a lawyer. I did not doubt for a minute that he could do it. I only wished I could assist him further in the matter. He was frustrated by his current predicament to be sure, but he never complained. He was quite the overachiever in his work as well and by the second month I was in love with him."

My lips parted. I felt like I could hardly breathe. "Did you tell him?" I managed.

She laughed. "No. How could I?" she paused, seeming to contemplate the matter as if she had never thought of the possibility before. "He was very much the ladies' man amongst the girls his own age. I would not be the victim for his entertainment—"

"Bernarda, I'm sure—"

"No," she said defiantly. My mouth snapped shut. I had never seen her quite so defensive and passionate as I did at that moment. She sighed wearily. "He went into the army later that year and was killed in combat."

I gasped.

"So, he never knew?"

"If he did, I didn't tell him."

I turned away from her, hardly knowing what to say or how to move forward in the conversation. I had set my tea down on a nearby little table I had found with my hands and leaned back in my chair. Her hand found mine and her voice lowered.

"I tell you this because I want you to know that I understand your predicament with Daniel."

I swallowed hard, suddenly feeling as if my deepest secret had been ripped from me and displayed to the world. I breathed steadily, though it was hard to maintain my focus and keep from sweating every bead of my body through the hand she held softly in her grasp.

"It was probably not smart of you, Miss Clara, to go off running into the mysteries of that boy. I was miserable for a very long time after Immanuel left, but it would have been worse for me to tell him and get involved with a scandal or force a resistance that neither of us would have been able to take."

My fingers were shaking in her grasp and she brought her other hand around to steady me. I could feel her eyes boring into my face and my entire body swelled with heat. I wanted to escape and yet I couldn't bare another moment until she told me what she had been obviously leading up to. Her fingers tightened around my hand and I thought I heard a sob escape her. I could not be sure.

"Tell me what I must do…" I found myself saying, nearly teary-eyed in my own breathy state.

"You must forget your feelings, Miss Clara. It would have never worked out. You need to demolish the possibility that it would. I know you've already crossed that border, even if just a little. You must forget what you have done and focus entirely on Adrian, dear. He loves you, and I know even though you have gotten swept in the vortex of Daniel Sempere and his feelings for you, you love Adrian too."

I nodded subtly.

"It may in fact be the case that you don't love Daniel at all, and that you just appreciate him so much that you were willing to take the leap into what it might have been if you had—"

"No!" I burst out, suddenly standing to my feet. I gasped a moment later, seemingly in shock over what I had done. It had been in the spur of the moment. There was no thought in that action, and I think Bernarda knew it as she slowly stood to her feet as well. Her fingers clenched around my shoulders.

"You need to let Daniel go, despite what you may or may not feel for him. He's eighteen. He needs to find a girl more suited for him, more close in age to spend the rest of his life with. You cannot pull these two men along simply because of complicated feelings and the duty held by propriety."

I breathed out slowly, knowing she was right.

"It is not fair to them that you continue in this matter. They are both trying so hard to ignore how you feel towards the other. I have seen it in their eyes."

I gulped. "I don't know how…" I whispered hoarsely. I had tried for months, years, to get over Daniel, but no matter what I told myself I could not manage to do it to completion. For Neri it had been the same, in one way or the other. It seemed I could never get out of that spinning circle of love, lust and curiosity.

She nodded, clearing her throat and brought me back down into the abandoned seat she had offered the moment I stepped in the door.

"I will help you."

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A/N: Well, I hope you enjoyed. Please review, only one chapter left to go! =D I really hope it has been convincing to you that Clara actually fell in love with Daniel throughout the course of this story. I can never be too sure…


	10. Innocence

A/N: Well, it is the very last chapter. Hopefully I have had existent readers at one point. I beg of you to review this chapter, if not any other, if you are indeed reading this. With that said, I hope you enjoyed this. I feel like most people don't really take to the love but not of Clara & Daniel. Heh. The end of them in the book initially was pretty intense for me, and I felt so bad for Daniel, thus…_Shrouded Innocence_ came into existence. Lol. Enjoy this final chapter. Thank-you for reading. ;p

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**Ch.10—Innocence**

"Maribeth! Don't run in the house!"

I smirked, loving the sound of my husband's demanding voice. Somehow it was a great comfort to me how dearly he thought of our beautiful little girl, even if it was bordering anger at the moment. I heard the barefooted pads of feet on the wood floor come to a halt, and leaned back into my chair, thrumming my lazy hands along the front of my dress. We were expecting again that December.

The shuffling of papers could be heard across the room in my husband's direction.

"Anything interesting?" I asked from my far off place in the corner by the window. I could feel his form turn towards me and his grand steps walk in my direction.

"Nothing of too much interest," he said casually, taking a seat in the chair just across from me. "A wedding invitation though," he continued, sounded incredibly indifferent. I felt just a pinch of tension in him and it kept me from getting too excited. I had grown to truly love weddings over the years, but something about Adrian's voice dissuaded me from the desire to smile brightly at attending another of the festive occasions.

"Whose?" I asked politely, forcing just slight curiosity into my voice. His head turned up towards me, abandoned the mail for just a second before looking back down on the name and address that clearly seemed to plague him, though I knew he would not show it.

"Daniel Sempere," he said plainly, rising from his seat and crossing the room again, back to where he had come. He tossed the invitation in my lap before he eagerly distracted himself with our bouncing almost-five year old daughter again. "Apparently he's marrying some girl named Beatriz Aguilar. I guess she's a relative of one of his old friends," he said offhandedly once again.

I swallowed hard, clutching at the invitation just enough to prevent its departure but not so much as to rip it to shreds. I had gotten over Daniel with Bernarda's help over the last few years. Having Maribeth had only helped the process, to a great extent in fact. In my daily life, Bernarda showed me how much I needed Adrian and our precious daughter. After awhile Daniel's name seemed a blur lost in time, a passing fancy that I'd been ridiculous to entertain. In the years of Daniel Sempere, I'd reversed back into my teen years. In the years that had followed my wedding and that third night of my honeymoon, I'd recovered from that dreadful fall. I'd grown up and was content with the way my life was. Uncle Gustavo loved Maribeth so very much and was already trying to teach her the intricacies of rare books and how to achieve them. I laughed when I heard them together. My heart beat wildly against my chest when Maribeth called out to me, _"Mommy!"_ or to Adrian _"Daddy!" _ Much to our relief, Maribeth was not born blind, not even with a hint of the dark world I was surrounded by. I was so glad for her and loved her with all my heart.

The pleasure and security Adrian brought me was more than gratifying. If our love story was told, which I intended it would be, it would be that of the most romantic kind. I had turned a pompous fool into a one-woman man with the biggest heart I'd ever known. When he kissed me it was like I was in another world, one where I was weightless and could see all the vibrant colors ever known. He sparked such life in me and when on the rare occasion I thought back to Daniel, I could not imagine why my heart had ever managed to stray.

But a chill ran through me when I felt that invitation in my hand, and I knew I had to dismiss it instantly. It was not that I could not forget it if it lingered awhile longer. I had grown up much farther past the sinking sand that was my misty feelings for Daniel Sempere. I could handle a simply wedding invitation that would cut me off from him for good.

Still, I called out to him.

"Adrian, love."

I felt his busying presence in the room shift. His feet moved ever so slightly in my direction and it was almost if I could feel his heart beating heavily against me.

"What is it, dear?" he asked.

"Decline," I said lightly, tossing the invitation to the small round table beside me. In that instant the air in the room grew thick. It was either as though he thought he had heard me incorrectly or perhaps that I had said the wrong thing. Maybe he thought there was a hidden meaning to what I said. For just a moment my face grew very hot and I thought he knew about my heated kiss with Daniel on the night of our wedding when I should have been with _him_ all along. I was so very guilty about that now. It seemed five years prior I was someone completely different, so very childish.

To clear the air, I spoke again. "The wedding invitation, Adrian. Tell Uncle Gustavo to go in our stead." Still, it felt like the room was thick with a poisonous vapor. I could not tell what he was thinking and I so desperately wanted to know. Maribeth was out of the room and playing with the other children in the front of the house. I could hear their laughter. It would not prove as a good enough distraction though, if there were raised voices. At least she wouldn't hear them if there were.

"Why?" he asked so very quietly. I thought maybe he hadn't said it at all. I tried my very best to breathe evenly. I knew his underlining question. _Do you still have feelings for him?_

_ No._

After what Bernarda had told me that fateful rainy night, I no longer assumed that the two men in my life were blind to what I seemed in denial of myself.

"Uncle Gustavo has been a friend of Mr. Sempere for years. Obviously he would have gotten an invitation as well because of this, but I really think we should stay home that night. We're going to be very busy for the next few months. I believe right around then is when the chaos will stop, will it not?"

He sighed, clearly resigning, and I was grateful for it.

"Very well," he said, closing the distance between us and pressing a soft kiss to my forehead. He snatched up the invitation in an instant and crossed the room once more, phoning my uncle to inform him of our decision. I eased in my chair.

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The phone rang forever it seemed. I was comfortably tucked in bed and the last thing I wanted to do was untangle myself from its sheets and answer that ridiculous line of communication. But the ringing wouldn't stop and Adrian was nowhere in the vicinity, at least not in the one surrounding the telephone. So, I climbed out of our luxurious bed and felt my way around to the telephone in our bedroom.

"Hello?" I asked quietly. Maribeth was sure to be asleep, but I didn't want to take any chances.

"Clara, dear, it's your uncle."

"Uncle Gustavo," I said, surprised. It occurred to me then that that was the night of the wedding between Daniel and…whoever it was that he had decided to marry. I couldn't remember any longer. It had been over a month.

"What is it?" I asked suddenly, realizing he had been silent for a great deal of time.

"I've just gotten back from Aguilar-Sempere wedding. I wanted to tell you about it."

I blinked, yawned and that rubbed at my eye. _Where was he going with this?_ A very possible conclusion came to me right then and I straightened myself on the bed and prepared to deny any of his accusations or causes for worry.

"I'm fine, Uncle."

The line was silent for awhile again and I sighed, _knowing_ I hadn't said the right thing. _He must have gotten the wrong impression_, I told myself.

"I'm sure the wedding was lovely, Uncle," I assured him, in case he wasn't already aware. I heard him clear his throat on the other end, with slight disapproval I guessed, and that was the moment I decided to be quiet, at least for a little while.

"It was," he said, sounding like he was still calculating how he was to go about our conversation. I rubbed at my temple in a bit of anguish.

"Tell me about it," I said, sounding slightly annoyed.

"Well, I will only tell you a little bit. I know you must be exhausted. I am sorry for calling you so late. I just…thought you'd want to know. We've been acquainted with the Semperes for so long, and Daniel was always rather attached to you. I'm sure it did not heighten his spirits to see your absence."

I swallowed. I would have interrupted him to make him stop in his clear intent to provoke me, to test me rather, but I would not let myself be thwarted. _I had come so far_.

"I'm sorry, Uncle. Our home life has been rather chaotic for the last month and I knew tonight we'd have some time free to each other. That is the reason I declined the wedding invitation. If you were looking for some justification, that is it."

He did not sigh in response, but I could tell he was not pleased.

"Clara…" he trailed off, and I actually felt bad for the man. It seemed to me he thought I was in denial still over what I felt for Daniel, but I was not. Just because I had not explicitly talked to him on the matter did not mean I hadn't overcome that particular difficulty.

"…he looked very much in love," he said. "They both did. Everyone could see it. It was pretty hard to miss. They will make each other very happy, and have beautiful children I'm sure. Beatriz Aguilar was nothing short of stunning."

Jealousy burned inside me.

"T-That's wonderful, Uncle."

I cursed myself for stuttering. I was not in love with Daniel Sempere, not anymore. But that did not mean I enjoyed the fact that he had found another beautiful woman and was at that moment sharing his life with her. We had finally detached ourselves from each other. For all the bliss that had become my life, I could not help thinking in '_what if'_s.

"Well, that is all I have to tell you, dear. Perhaps we can get together soon and I can delight in seeing that beautiful grand-niece of mine," he said warmly, clearly moving on from the tense topic. I knew in that instant he felt he had won, that maybe he thought he had punctured my most sensitive healed wound and pried it open with a stick and a knife. I knew he would not do it deliberately, to hurt me or for whatever else.

I knew he only meant the best for me and my little family though. It was just meant to be a reminder not a cursed attack. For this realization alone, I smiled a little at the mention of Maribeth's name.

"Yes, Uncle Gustavo, perhaps."

The room was shrouded in darkness, deeper than I had ever felt, for the following ten minutes after I ended the call. I desperately wanted Adrian beside me, reminding me why I had chose him and not made my life more complicated. Soon the emotion became unbearable and I rose to my feet again, this time determined to find him. I stepped out into the hall, feeling against the walls to find my way.

"Adrian?" I called out in a soft whisper, hoping he'd hear me and there wouldn't be some sort of commotion that would wake our precious angel. "Adrian?" I asked again into the darkness. There were soft voices that I could hear near the front door and it stopped me dead in my tracks. The voices were too familiar. It was not only Adrian's that I recognized.

"There is something I have to tell you, Neri," Daniel's voice echoed in my mind.

"What is it?" Adrian asked. I was so very awed by the complete lack of anger or arrogance in his voice. If he had any thought of the two emotions, it was untraceable.

Daniel swallowed hard. "The night of your wedding five years ago…"

My eyes widened and it felt as though I had just been sucked into an unending black hole of complete despair. I had never requested Daniel keep the secret to himself. Perhaps it was because during the time it occurred I felt no guilt whatsoever. Now it was so very different. I panicked and wanted to move, to run at him and shout or do something to slaughter the notion and very true fact that Adrian was now unable to block from his mind. But I was frozen stiff. I couldn't do anything in the least. Let alone stop the transaction.

"…thank-you for telling me," Adrian responded. I blinked and my body eased. My panic had blocked out the event in motion and I had not heard exactly what words had passed between the two, but before I could hear another thing or make any clean assumptions, I padded my way back to the bedroom and tucked into the warm sheets.

I heard the front door close no longer than five minutes later. I felt Adrian's presence immediately when he crossed the threshold leading into our bedroom and closed the door behind him. The quiet sound confirmed my suspicions. Very quietly he slid into bed beside me. I did not realize I was so tensed until I felt one of his strong arms envelope me and pull me close. I was even warmer now when he tucked a soft strand of hair behind my ear.

"Did you hear everything, my love?" he asked into my ear, nuzzling his face against mine. I sighed uneasily.

"No," I said, glad I had been so honest.

"Do you love me?" he asked, his voice a mixture of vulnerability and absolute hatred. If I did not answer positively in his regard, he would know where my heart truly lay.

"With all my heart," I said, also with the deepest sincerity and honesty. He was silent for awhile but his fingers threaded through my hair and so I knew he was just contemplating my answers in order to figure out what he'd say next. His movements were gentle and I was glad that in the midst of my maybe wrong answer I'd given him some sort of relief.

"Do you love another as well?" he asked very quietly. I swallowed hard. I did not believe myself to love any other than Adrian Neri, the man I so deeply loved and who held me in a way that women dreamed men would hold them. I did not regret a second of our life together.

"They're only memories, Adrian. The only man I love is you." I reached up and traced the lines of his face with my hand. Somehow it felt as if he was tense again. I did not know what to do. If he believed I loved Daniel still, I would not know how to turn him back and make him trust me again.

I pulled back finally, fearing I had made things worse by touching him. He grabbed a hold of my hand before it had reached the covers I was buried beneath. His tension released itself as he kissed my fingertips and brought my hand to rest on his cheek. He drew me closer and would not let go of my hand.

"Just remember that you married _me_, Clara."

"We have an understanding, Adrian. I'm never going to talk or meet up with Daniel Sempere ever again. We have both married and lead separate, happy lives. I love you, not him. You and Maribeth are the most wonderful things that could have ever happened to me. I treasure you every day."

He seemed to be smiling sadly, but I couldn't tell.

"Shh," he said very gently. "Don't make promises you can't keep, love. Just remember." He tucked another rebellious lock behind my ear. I felt so very restless and hopeless right then, like I had to convince him there was no love between myself and Daniel and that is was purely a mix of feelings from the memories and the experiences I'd forced myself to get over during the last five years.

Finally, I closed up the final inch between us and tucked my head beneath his chin. I felt so very safe in his arms. He did not kiss me and I wanted him to, but I would not beg. It was not long until I became very satisfied with the position we were in. There were so many things I wanted to tell him, to debate, to convince him of. I desperately hoped that single kiss on the night of our wedding did not demolish the trust between us. I would not cheat on Adrian Neri in a million years, not since that night. And in the morning after of that fateful night, if I had given into the temptation, I would never forgive myself.

"Only you," I murmured nearly asleep. He said nothing in response and I wondered if he'd fallen asleep just a little before me, but then I felt his sweet lips press in an endearing, almost provocative kiss along the curve of my neck. I moaned very softly and felt him smile against me. That was when all my worries melted away. I lived in the world of shrouded innocence, but Adrian had uncovered me and wiped away my spotless stains. Forever I would love him.

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A/N: Hope you enjoyed! =D Please review! ;p


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